Broken Things
by K-yers
Summary: Helaena Snow is the recognized bastard daughter of King Robert Baratheon. Thanks to this recognition, she is able to live in the North among the Starks while her father lives in King's Landing. But when the king visits to find the new Hand of the King, the realm will be tossed into the beginning of the war to change the kingdoms. Rating may go up for later chapters. ON HIATUS
1. 1: Royals

My hair had been divided into three parts and braided until the three braids met into one larger braid. Septa Mordane and helped me find a gown that would be suitable enough to greet the king, a dark gray woolen dress and a dark emerald cloak. I was as well dressed as any of the Stark children, the only difference was that I wasn't a Stark child.

All of the Stark children had their mother's looks; auburn hair and blue eyes. The only exceptions were Arya and Bran, who both had the brown hair and gray eyes of a Stark. Meanwhile, I had dark black hair and bright blue eyes; according to Lord Eddard Stark, I had my father's looks.

And today, my father was supposed to be arriving here in Winterfell, along with his wife and royal family.

Ever since she had found out, Lady Catelyn Stark had been preparing. The entire castle of Winterfell was cleaned and polished, the stables and kennels were completely washed out of all waste, and every person who lived in the castle was to look their best in front of the royal family.

I wasn't sure how I was going to react to seeing King Robert. He hadn't really acted like a father ever, but he had made me a recognized bastard. He had left me in the care of his friend Ned Stark, so that I could be raised properly among the Stark children. I've been living here since before Robert's Rebellion started, granted, I had only been a baby when the rebellion had taken place. This made me about a year older than Robb Stark and Jon Snow.

Jon and I stood along the side of the courtyard, watching the last of the preparation happen. He had just gotten his face shaven and his black curls trimmed. He kept shifting his feet or rubbing his face with the back of his hands.

"Nervous?" I asked him.

"Can't imagine how happy the queen is goin' to be when she sees two bastards," Jon said bluntly.

"I'm sure she already hates me more than you," I said with a short laugh. "I _am_ the love child of her husband and a whore, or a pig farmer."

Jon laughed at that, looking more relaxed than earlier. "Your mother got a new job?"

"More like a new husband." I said, thinking about my mother. She had been a whore when King Robert had been with her. But in the years since I was sent to live with the Starks at Winterfell, my mother had run off and gotten married to a pig farmer. She had sent me a raven a month ago to tell me that they had had their third child together.

Catelyn Stark appeared at that moment, briefly giving me and Jon a curled lip expression before continuing to talk to Maester Luwin. They were most likely going over the last of the arrangements needed to house the royal family and their court for however long they panned to stay here. The nameless direwolf Bran had was seated at the edge of a wall over by them, causing both the lady and the maester to look down at the pup.

"They're here!" A voice from above shouted with glee. Jon and I looked up to see little Bran Stark running on the roof.

"Brandon!" Catelyn exclaimed, her face going from worried about the king's arrival to worried about her son falling off the roof. "Get down here at once!"

"But they're coming this way!" Bran continued, but he did what his mother asked him, hopping down from the roof and onto a pile of crates that most likely contained food for the feast tonight. The nameless direwolf puppy who belonged to Bran trotted forward until he could nip affectionately at his owner's fingers.

I looked from Bran to the top of the roof, which showed me nothing but the cold, blue sky. Jon nudged my arm gently with his. "Nervous?" He asked.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't." I said.

"How long has it been?" Jon asked. "Since you last saw him, I mean."

I had to think about that for a moment. "Years. I believe I was a few years old, maybe. Sansa was just a newborn, so I was four."

Jon didn't say anything, clearly thinking hard. I watched Catelyn talk to Bran, scolding him for climbing up there no doubt. I let out a silent sigh and allowed my attention to be torn away when Septa Mordane entered the courtyard, accompanied by Sansa, Arya, Jeyne Poole, and Beth Cassel.

"Shouldn't you be with them?" Jon asked me teasingly.

"Oh, shut up." I grumbled. The old gods and the new all knew that the septa wouldn't let me near any of the highborn girls today. Usually, she just taught me basic things "a lady should know how to do" and then sent me off to do whatever else I pleased. This had usually landed me with learning how to sword fight with Ser Rodrik.

As the caravan of royals got close enough, the population of the castle was brought out and lined up. The Stark family got to be in front to greet them, and I was told by Catelyn to be in the second row with Jon and Theon Greyjoy. I stood between the two as the gates to Winterfell's courtyard opened wide for the royal family.

The first person through the gates was no one I recognized. A boy who looked to be around Sansa's age with gold hair entered first with a member of the kingsgaurd at his side and a much larger knight right behind him who's helmet was shaped to look like a snarling dog. I figured that this could only be my half-brother, Prince Joffrey.

A large and expensive looking carriage entered next, mot likely carrying the queen and the rest of the royal children. Following the carriage was the king himself. I didn't get a good look at him before everyone dropped to their knees to bow. But while everyone was down, I managed to glance up and see my father for the first time in thirteen years.

The last time I had seen King Robert Baratheon, he had been large with muscle, a great black beard, and had looked intimidating by the way he had held himself. Now, he was still intimidatingly large, but fatter. His black beard was speckled with gray, and he just looked tired to me. I looked back down at the ground when he got off his horse and started towards Ned.

Only when Ned stood up, did we all stand up. I found myself torn between looking right at the king or not looking at him at all. Robert and Ned embraced each other, greeting each other for the first time in years. I watched in silence as the king went down the line of Starks, greeting them in turn and meeting some of the younger ones for the first time.

Cersei Lannister approached the Starks, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else then here. She had just walked up to the line when Robert announced that he wanted to visit the crypts. Ned had no choice but to go with the king to pay their respects to Lyanna Stark.

I don't remember Lyanna Stark. She had been taken away by Rhaegar Targaryen when I was a newborn baby, so even if I had some memory of her, it'd be practically nonexistent.

Cersei's eyes were scanning the people in front of her, and finally, her emerald eyes landed on me. She narrowed her eyes and stared at me long and hard, no doubt recognizing her husband in me. There was a brief flash of intense dislike in her eyes, bit it was gone as she turned around to join her twin brother where he stood with the rest of the kingsguard.

I exchanged a glance with Jon, who had witnessed the whole exchange. I leaned towards him and said in a hushed voice, "I told you she'd hate me."


	2. 2: The Imp and the Bastard

The feast that night was excessive in every meaning of the word. The cooks had been preparing all day, causing an intoxicating aroma to drift through the halls of the castle. As the feast began, platters of food was brought out: whole pigs that had been roasted with fruits and whiskey, flanks of cows and sheep that were glazed with a dark red sauce, tarts that were so stuffed with fruit, meat, or vegetables that the insides were spilling out of any gap they could find.

On top of all the food that had been made, the king had also brought a vast amount of wine with him. One of the stewards of Winterfell was mixing the expensive wine from the south mixed with the winter wine and ale of the North. Some foods made were exclusively Southern foods, made to please our guests. I sampled one of the Southern wines and was caught off guard by the richness of the fruit; it tasted like blackberries and apples. Winter wine was what I was used to, and that was usually the taste of wheat with small hints of wild berries. This, with its overwhelming sweetness, was something different entirely.

I was told to sit with Theon and the rest of the lower members of the house. Jon had been exiled completely from the great hall; Catelyn had only let me stay because I was the king's recognized bastard. If I wasn't there, Robert could get offended if he didn't see his bastard daughter present.

Not that it seemed to matter anyway. Robert hadn't so much as looked at me since he got here. At the moment, he was wearing a golden crown and sloppily kissing one of the serving ladies, who looked to be enjoying the attention from the king.

Theon pushed my shoulder roughly, "You might get another half sibling tonight, Snow."

Under the influence of the summer wine of the South, I laughed and pushed Theon's shoulder right back. Theon's light eyes flashed at this, unused to me flirting back at him. I refilled my goblet of summer wine and lifted it towards Theon. "To gettin' another sibling." I toasted. Theon laughed shortly, like a bark, and clinked his goblet against mine.

"To getting another sibling." Theon echoed, clicking his goblet against mine so hard that wine splashed out of both goblets. I drank deeply, relishing the taste of the berries and apples. As I swallowed the rich drink, I caught sight of my father also drinking deeply from his own jeweled goblet while that serving woman clung to his shoulder like a tapestry.

It looked like I had inherited something from him other than his looks.

Theon was trying to whisper something to me in my ear, but I ignored him. I continued to look around the great hall, and I spotted the queen eyeing me down with dislike. Feeling bolder then usual, I lifted my goblet to toast her, causing the queen to wrinkle her nose at me. Catelyn, sitting next to Queen Cersei, saw the exchange and followed the queen's gaze to glare at me. She jerked her head towards the door, dismissing me without saying a word.

"It seems that I must be goin'," I said to Theon, standing up with a slight sway. I lifted my goblet to my lips and drained the rest of the sweet wine before setting the goblet next to Theon's. "Have a pleasant evening, Lord Greyjoy. The lowly bastard must leave the sight of the royals." I gave him a deep nod of my head and turned away, leaving the great hall with a slight sway in my step. All the while I could feel three sets of eyes on me; Catelyn's, the queen's, and Theon's.

The cold of summer welcomed me as I stepped outside. The smell of the feast was still wafting around the courtyard mingled with the scent of smoke from the outside fireplaces and the sharp smell of cold. I looked up at the midnight blue sky, practically starless, and saw no signs of snow.

"Lady Snow," Theon's voice came from behind me. I turned with a stumble in time to see Theon, equally as drunk as me, hurry forward and grab onto me, to stop me from falling. "You're drunk."

" _You're_ drunk," I said, unable to think of a better comeback. Theon laughed shortly, helping me get my balance before slowly letting me go. I could still feel where the imprints of his hands had been.

"I think you need a bed, and someone to warm it tonight." Theon said, his art of seduction painfully obvious. I snorted at him and swatted his bicep with the back of my hand. Theon's blue eyes followed my movements; even tipsy, he was still able to track a woman's body.

I smirked at him and put a hand on the back of his neck, pulling him down so that I could talk to his ear without having to strain upwards. When Theon's ear was next to my mouth, I whispered, "I'm not that drunk yet, Greyjoy." I released his neck and took a small step backwards.

Theon was still smiling cheekily. "So there's a goal, Snow?"

I pushed his head away gently, "Go back inside, Greyjoy. Enjoy the feast for me. Then go find yourself a whore so she can't turn you down."

"I will," Theon said, the smile still on his face. He pushed my arm back, with what could've been mistaken for affection, and turned back around to go back inside. He'd probably go to the local brothel when the feast was over, to do what I had said and find a girl who couldn't turn him down. I watched him leave and when he was gone, turned towards my own chamber.

There was the sound of chuckling from a little ways away. I looked around until I spotted someone who only went up to my chest. Tyrion Lannister, the Imp, walked out of the shadows and looked me up and down with hazel colored eyes. I blinked at the dwarf, not expecting to have seen him around. "What're you doing here, dwarf?" I asked him a bit sharper than I had intended.

"Enjoying the fresh air, same as you, bastard." Tyrion replied, regarding me carefully. He looked over to where Theon had disappeared. "Never thought I'd see the day when one of Robert's children turned down a willing lover."

"I'm not my father," I said. "And Theon will stick his cock into any willing woman."

"No, you're not your father, I should've known." Tyrion said thoughtfully. "If everyone acted like their fathers, then I'd be a massive prick." I laughed at that, causing the dwarf to smile kindly. "What's your name?"

"Helaena Snow."

"Lovely name. And your mother, what's she doing now?"

"She's married to a pig farmer now. They have three children together, none of them named Snow."

"And what's it like being the bastard of a king?"

I looked up at the sky again before back to Tyrion. "I suppose it's the same as being any other bastard. It's not like he made any attempt to come give me special treatment."

"True." Tyrion said, following my gaze to the sky. "I'm sure my sister would have a fit if Robert brought you to court." I didn't say anything to that, and the dwarf looked up at me. "Go get some rest, Lady Snow. You look dead on your feet and you are certainly drunk enough to make a bad decision." He gave me a slight bow, bending stiffly at the waist. "It was a pleasure, Lady Snow."

I didn't get the chance to say goodbye before he waddled off, heading towards the exit of the courtyard. Judging by the rumors I had heard about him, he was heading towards the brothel. All I had heard of him was that he loved to drink wine, read books, and fuck women. I let out a breathy huff, gave the sky one last look, and went inside the castle, going to my own chambers to sleep off my drunken state.


	3. 3: The Hunt

Morning came all too early. I woke to the sound of the roosters crowing, and as I opened my eyes, they stung with tiredness. I sat up and rubbed my tired eyes. There was a slight chill in the room, and I wrapped a woolen, navy blue robe around me. Outside of the window, sunlight was streaming into the chamber. When I looked outside, I saw that the sky was bright blue with only a few clouds. It wouldn't be snowing today.

There was a knock at my door. I tightened the robe around my front and called out, "Enter."

Jon Snow entered, looking determined not to look around my room. "I was afraid I woke you." Jon said.

"I just woke up a moment ago." I said, turning my back to the window. "What d'you need, Jon?"

"There's going to be a hunt in an hour." Jon said. "Lord Stark, Robb, Theon, all of them plus the king, the prince, and their party. I even heard that Tyrion Lannister was joining. Lord Stark wanted me to ask you if you wanted to join. But he said he'd understand if you wanted to stay here with the queen and Lady Catelyn."

Jon and I held each other's gaze for a moment before both snorting with laughter. I sighed, "I'll join the lot of you. I'll be down soon." Jon nodded and turned tail, leaving me to get ready for the hunt.

I quickly braided my hair, starting it at the top of my neck until I ran out of hair. I got dressed, putting on a pair of trousers made of a warm material and a few layers of light woolen cloths dyed dark green and gray. I pulled on my pair of soft leather boots and strapped one dagger to my side, another underneath my clothes that pressed against the skin of my lower back.

If Ser Rodrik had taught me one thing, it was that a woman should just as armed than a man, if not more.

After strapping my quiver of arrows across my chest and setting my bow against my back, I left my chambers and started for the courtyard of the Hunter's Gate. It didn't take long for me to find Jon, Robb, and Theon all standing together, all ready to go hunting. I approached them and when I got close enough, the three of them turned to look at me.

"Nice to see you sober, Lady Snow." Theon said smugly. I raised an eyebrow at him and didn't reply.

"Have you heard, Laena?" Robb asked, choosing to ignore Theon like me. "Father is taking the job as Hand of the King."

"He is?" I repeated. "I figured it'd take longer for the king to convince him."

"Apparently not." Robb said, looking over at where Ned Stark was talking to the king. Robb looked back at me. "Have you spoken to your father yet?" Jon and Theon looked at me too.

I shook my head. "What would I even talk about? And also, he hasn't even looked at me since he showed up. I'm in no hurry to have an awkward conversation." All three of them smiled at my words. I looked around at the gathering group of men who were ready for hunting. There was the usual party that went hunting from Winterfell, along with the all the new faces from King's Landing.

Prince Joffrey was already mounted on his black stallion, looking impatient to start. The Hound was mounted on his horse as well, standing right behind his prince. A little ways away from him was his father, our father. King Robert had finished talking to Ned and was astride his horse. He was picking at the gloves on his hands, looking bored at the moment. Then he looked up and our matching blue eyes locked.

What was going through his brain when he saw me? Surely he saw his own looks, dark black hair and ice blue eyes, broad shoulders and cheekbones that rivaled his own. But anything other than that was a mystery to me. Robert kept his face a mask as he stared at me, and for a moment, I wish he was drunk so that I could get some kind of emotion out of him. He looked away and wheeled his horse so that his back was to me.

"Well, at least he looked at you, Lady Snow." Theon said. Jon let out a quiet hiss and glared at him.

Robb nudged his friend in the ribs. "Let's get the horses." Robb led the way to the stables, just as he always had.

For as long as I could remember, Robb was the leader of our group. He was the Stark, the rest of us were just two bastards and a ward of Winterfell. The four of us had been together since we were all young, hunting together, playing together, and learning to fight together. All three of them were better than me at fighting, but then again they had had training with swords while I only had training with the bow and my daggers.

We got our horses and returned to the Hunter's Gate, where the hunting party was finally leaving. I nudged my heels into my horse-a copper colored stallion named Dust-and took the lead of my friends and into the wolfswood.

The large hunting party had only been in the woods for a few minutes when two direwolf pups bounded over. I recognized Grey Wind and Ghost, Robb's and Jon's wolves. Dust whinnied in fear; I reached across his neck and patted him, calming him down as much as I could. Other horses, particularly those belonging to the royal crew, weren't as easily calmed.

"Come Ghost," Jon said, turning his horse and breaking away from the hunting party. Ghost followed for a brief moment before trotting off. He'd stay close to Jon. Robb looked at me before jerking his head towards where Jon disappeared.

"C'mon, Laena, let's go." Robb said, following after Jon. I turned Dust after them and went after, Theon right behind me.

I heard Prince Joffrey loudly ask, "Where're they going?" None of us turned back though; we were a better hunting party together, so that's where we were going.

We hadn't gone far before we dismounted our horses and we began our hunt on foot. Ghost and Grey Wind trotted ahead of us, Grey Wind sniffing at the ground while Ghost stared around the woods with his bright red eyes. Theon and I both drew our bows and notched arrows, ready to fire. We were approaching a high slope, and when I turned around to look at the hunting party below us, I could see King Robert watching me leave. I turned my back on him and disappeared from his sight and over the sloped hill.

Grey Wind suddenly looked up. We looked in the direction that Grey Wind was looking, and although we couldn't see what he saw, there was something there. Theon and I took either side of the direwolf pup, trying to get an angle on whatever was in the woods. Robb and Jon both took either side of the pup. I branched out farther from the rest, carefully placing my heels down first and rolling my foot down so that I barely made a sound.

The boar that had alerted Grey Wind was snuffling at the ground, trying to uproot some grubs. I glanced over my shoulder to where my friends were and whistled four times that sounded almost identical to the song of a song thrush. The boar, mistaking my call for a bird, didn't pause in its hunt for bugs. I drew my bow, took aim, and fired the arrow.

The arrow hit the boar's head with the dull sound of metal piercing flesh. The boar let out a sharp squeal of pain before dying. I approached the body as Grey Wind bounded through the underbrush, followed by his human companions. I kneeled down and removed the arrow with a jerk from the boar's skull.

"Nicely shot, Laena." Robb said with a nod. Grey Wind approached the body and sniffed curiously at the boar.

"Could one of you help me strap this to Dust's back?" I asked. "I'm heading back." Jon moved forward and took one side of the boar while I took the other. Jon and I carried the boar back to Dust. Grey Wind, Robb and Theon followed farther behind, stopping to fire arrows at a flock of birds. I heard the sounds of a few of those birds hit the ground.

With Jon's help, we strapped the boar to my horse's back. The hunting party had caught up with us, several of them still on their horses. Among them was both the king, the prince, and Ned Stark.

"Caught a boar already, Laena?" Ned asked as Jon and I finished tying the boar down.

I turned to Ned and the other two, barely giving the royals a glance and instead directing all of my attention to Lord Stark. "Yes, my lord. I'm sure that Gage will roast it for dinner tonight."

"You know how to hunt?" King Robert interjected, forcing me to finally look at him.

I didn't have time to answer before Ned beat me to it. "I taught her myself, along with Robb, Jon, and Theon."

Prince Joffrey snorted with amusement. I looked from the king to the prince, glaring at him with ice blue eyes. Joffrey matched my gaze with his own emerald eyes, looking smug. King Robert also turned sharply at his son.

"What're you smirking about?" King Robert asked him. "So far she's proven herself to be a much better hunter than you." Joffrey's face turned pink as Jon smirked, barely concealing his laugh. Robert looked back to me. "How'd you kill it?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "I asked it nicely." I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice. Ned gave me a stern look, silently scolding me for my tongue. King Robert, on the other hand, started laughing a wheezy laugh that took a moment to build up until the laugh sounded like it was coming from his belly. I smiled at that laugh, despite my bitterness towards him.

"She's got a sharp tongue." Robert said with a booming voice that could've been pride. Before the king could say anything else, Vayon Poole charged through the trees on horseback, his thin hair wild from the wind.

"Your Grace," He said hurriedly to the king and prince. He then turned to Ned with panic in his face. "My Lord, you must return to Winterfell. There's been an accident."


	4. 4: Blueberry Wine

Catlyn didn't come down from Bran's room at all that night. Bran's direwolf pup had been tossed out of the room because he'd been whining the whole time. Catlyn had had Hodor pick up the growing pup and carry him outside. The poor beast had tried to fight Hodor, but the large man had held onto him tightly and didn't let him go until the puppy was outside.

Now the puppy was sitting right underneath Bran's window and howling his heart out.

I had watched Bran climb the walls of Winterfell thousands of times. Ever since the little lord had been a toddler, the occupants of Winterfell had been chasing after him as he climbed the walls and towers. I had seen Bran do all of this for years and years, and he had finally fallen.

That night the Stark family had held their own sort of silent vigil. Ned and Catelyn had stayed in the room with Bran's broken body as Maester Luwin tried to heal him. Rickon had cried himself to sleep with Septa Mordane by his bedside, trying her best to calm him. Arya had ran into the godswood, her direwolf Nymeria charging after her. Robb and Sansa had both tried playing the host for our royal guests, but King Robert had shooed him away and dismissed them. Jon had wandered into the godswood with Ghost to go look for Arya.

Theon and I sat together at a table in the Great Keep, both of us feeling like outsiders in the family's grief. I had grabbed two flagons of wine and Theon and I were doing a good job of emptying them.

"What are the chances of him livin'?" Theon asked, slurring some of his words.

I swallowed my mouthful of wine. It tasted strongly of blueberries. "Maester Luwin said that he'd live if he made it through the night." I was less drunk than Theon, judging by the way he was slurring and how I wasn't. Theon sighed heavily at my words as the doors to the Great Keep opened. Theon and I glanced over to see the king enter the hall.

Just like us, the king had clearly been drinking. He was swaying ever so slightly, and I could see a small amount of red wine staining the area below his mouth as if he had taken a large gulp and had missed his mouth. King Robert looked around the keep, saw us sitting down and then staggered over to join us.

"Oh, for the love of the Drowned God," Theon muttered under his breath upon seeing the king. King Robert didn't hear him and he sat down heavily on the opposite side of our table.

"What're you drinkin' there?" King Robert asked, looking at our flagons with heavy eyes. I grabbed the flagon closest to him and poured the dark blue liquid into my goblet to show him the blueberry wine. He smiled and reached out with pudgy fingers. "May I?" I pushed the goblet to him and Theon and I watched as our king drained the entire goblet in one go.

He slammed the goblet down when he was finished, pushing the big cup back to me. I poured myself more wine and started to drink it, much more slowly than him.

"Blueberries," King Robert said, almost to himself. "Blueberry wine like that is from the Reach. Most likely from Highgarden itself. You ever been to Highgarden?" He asked me, completely ignoring Theon.

I put the goblet back onto the table but didn't let go of it. "No, Your Grace. I've never left Winterfell." I gave him a sharp look at this. King Robert blinked slowly and heaved a sigh.

"That's a sad thing," He said, once again almost to himself, as if he didn't realize that he was talking out loud. Theon had put his head down on the table. King Robert reached over and took his half full goblet and drained the rest of the sweet wine. He paused before saying, "When we march south, I have half a mind to bring you with us."

I froze and stared at the king. Surely he didn't mean that? Before I could say anything, King Robert shook his head, his black and gray beard shaking along with his head. "No. You'd hate the capital. King's Landing is dangerous for bastards."

There was an unexpected feeling of sinking in my stomach. I hadn't realized that the moment he had suggested it how much I had wanted it. I drank more wine and looked away from the king, not wanting to show him how much I would've liked going south with him and the others. He wasn't paying attention anyway, he was pouring more wine into his goblet.

I looked down at Theon, who had closed his eyes. The blueberry wine mixed with the intensity of the day and night had wiped him out. King Robert followed my gaze and snorted.

"I remember when he was a boy, brought here from those damned islands." King Robert said in a grumble. He turned his blue eyes back onto me. "I remember you being here in Winterfell; you were just a tiny little girl, clinging to the leg of that septa." He smiled to himself and drank deeply from the goblet. "That Greyjoy boy there is what, a year older than you? Two?"

"He's about two years older," I said, glancing down at my sleeping friend.

King Robert blinked at the flagon of wine that was beginning to empty. "What d'you remember me as? When did you see me last?"

I stared at him. "I was four. Theon was coming here from the Iron Islands and you were making sure that he arrived at Winterfell." I paused and couldn't help but smile to myself. "You would pick me up and toss me into the air and catch me. We had played tag in the godswood once. Then you left for King's Landing and you never came back." My words ended bitterly, angrily.

King Robert looked down at my words. Was that a flash of guilt on his face? I ignored it and drained the rest of my goblet before standing up. I looked down at the king. "If you'll excuse me, Your Grace." The king gave me a stiff nod and I turned around and left the Great Keep.


	5. 5: Behind

Bran Stark would live. He had made it through the night and next day, and according to Maester Luwin he'd survive. He'd be a cripple but he would survive. I had no idea what'd happen to him throughout his life; he couldn't be a knight like he had wanted, and he wouldn't become the lord of Winterfell. That honor would go to Robb. A long list of problems for Bran came into my mind, but I wouldn't even try to bring this up to any of the Starks.

The royal party was set to leave for the capital today. As the sun broke over the horizon, I checked the sky and saw that it was light gray, no snow and a good day for travel. I got dressed and left my chambers, prepared to say goodbye to those leaving today.

The king hadn't spoken to me since we had shared blueberry wine, and I wasn't really expecting him to say anything today. He sure as hell wasn't going to change his mind and take me south with him and his legitimate family. In his words, King's Landing was a dangerous place for bastards.

I entered the courtyard of the East Gate, the same gate that opened to the Kingsroad. The large and ornate carriage that had carried the royal family into Winterfell was already here and I watched as the two youngest children were ushered inside of the carriage. The little prince and princess didn't notice me and I watched their golden heads disappear from view. The handmaiden, who I assumed was in charge of the two of them, went in right after them.

Queen Cersei arrived, holding her nose up in the air and heading towards the carriage at a brisk walk. I watched her go and she must've sensed me watching because she stopped right before stepping inside and turned her head to look straight at me.

The queen and I held each other's gazes for a long moment before she tightened her jaw and entered the carriage. I could see Prince Tommen's face peering at me from the carriage window. I gave the little prince a slight bow of my head and he waved at me in response. I smiled back right as his face disappeared abruptly. My smile was gone and I turned away from the carriage as more people came into the courtyard.

My other half-brother, Prince Joffrey, rode his horse into the courtyard, the Hound following him. I had heard the rumors about Sansa having to marry him as soon as they're old enough and I shook my head to myself in silent pity. I had only known my half-brother for a few days and he had already made a rude nuisance of himself. The faster he was out of Winterfell, the happier I'd be.

A smaller, more humble looking carriage entered and Septa Mordane came to me before heading towards it. The septa briefly patted my shoulder. "I expect you to take care of yourself while I'm away, Helaena." Septa Mordane said.

"I'll try my best, septa." I said. She gave me one of her rare, thin smiles before turning tail and going towards the carriage from Winterfell. Sansa was already waiting outside with Lady the direwolf, looking excited to get going and like she had been spending most of the morning getting herself ready. She didn't come over to say goodbye to me; we had never been on friendly terms before so this wasn't a shock.

"Laena!" Arya's voice sounded as she ran up to me. Nymeria the direwolf chased after her and circled the pair of us when Arya stopped. "You're not comin' South with us?"

I shook my head. "Someone has to stay up here and make sure Theon and Robb don't go doing anything stupid."

Arya smiled at that. "I'm going to miss you and Jon."

"I'll be right here when you get back, and Jon'll be at the Wall." I pointed out. "Maybe one day when you get back, we'll go up there together to say hi. Would you like that?"

Arya nodded with excitement at this prospect. "Yes!" She threw her thin arms around my neck and I hugged the small girl as tightly as I could. I'd miss her, and I figured that she'd probably end up hating the capital. But it'd be good for her to see it, and she'd appreciate one day. Arya and I let go of each other and she reluctantly went over to Septa Mordane and Sansa.

I spotted Ned Stark and King Robert, both on horseback, talking to each other. I didn't spend much time watching them before I saw Jon Snow heading my way. I smiled at him as he approached and we hugged each other tightly. My face was buried into Jon's chest, the furs of his coat tickling my face. I'd miss him, probably more than anyone else.

We were both bastards living in a place that hadn't really wanted us. Now he was off to join the Night's Watch, and I had to stay here and continue my life as a lowly member of the Stark household.

Jon and I released each other and we both looked each other in the face, still holding onto each other's arms. "Be careful up at the Wall," I said.

"When I become a man of the Watch, you can come and visit." Jon promised. His brown eyes scanned my face and I scanned his. The next time I see him, he'd be wearing all black and would be a man guarding the Wall.

After a long time of our silent goodbye, Jon and I let go of each other.

People were finally ready to leave, Ned rode up to me to give me a final goodbye before departure. "Take care, Helaena." He said with that firm and fatherly tone he had always used. I gave him a deep nod and the lord rode away, following the royal carriage with Jon and his horse beside him.

King Robert rode by and he pulled his steed to a halt next to me. I looked up at the king with surprise, seeing how we hadn't spoken since that night Bran fell. King Robert looked down at me evenly. "I don't think I need to tell you to take care of yourself." He said soberly. "You seem to know how to that yourself if you can keep up with this lot." He said with a smile, looking up and nodding at where Robb was saying goodbye to the Winterfell household and to where Theon was standing a ways behind him.

"I can manage them, Your Grace." I said, looking from my friends and back to the king.

King Robert let out a loud and wheezing laugh that came from his belly. "I daresay we'll meet again, Helaena. And it won't be another eleven years, I swear that by the old gods and the new." He smiled at me through his big black and gray beard and gave me a deep nod of his head. I did the same as he gently kicked his horse into motion.

I watched the caravan out the gates and out of sight. Members of the royal guard were the last through the gates, following their king.

"You want to go with them?" Theon's question came from over my shoulder and I turned to see him approaching me with narrowed eyes.

I looked away from Theon and back to the closing gates. "I'm tempted. But King's Landing is a dangerous place for bastards."

"I reckon King's Landing is full of bastards." Theon countered, continuing forward until we were side by side. "Maybe it's just dangerous for royal bastards."

"That's a possibility. When'd you get so clever, Theon?" I asked, giving him a side eye. Theon returned the dirty look and roughly shoved my shoulder with his. Robb finished talking to the guards closing the gate and he walked over to where Theon and I were standing.

Robb huffed a breath, suddenly looking several years younger and kind of lost. Now that Ned was gone to King's Landing, Robb was the lord of the castle. Catelyn was supposed to be acting in charge, but she hadn't left Bran's room since he had fallen.

"Well, now what?" Theon asked Robb. Robb blinked and looked around.

"I guess I should see if anyone needs help with anything," Robb said, looking around as if trying to find some activity to throw himself into. His blue eyes locked onto Maester Luwin leaving the courtyard. "I'm going to see if the maester needs anything." Robb muttered, almost to himself. He hurried off after the maester, leaving me and Theon behind him.


	6. 6: The Pig Farm

I got up early in the morning and dressed warmly after giving the sky one look. The sky was tinted pale yellow and promised a summer snow. I packed warm clothes as well and brought my pack with me down to the kitchens, grabbing a fair amount of food for the road.

"How long you plannin' on stayin' this time, Helaena?" Gage the cook asked me with a friendly smile.

"Just a day or two, Gage." I said, stuffing the small sacks of fruit and dried meat into the pack before slinging it onto my back.

Gage gave me a nod and smiled in his usual friendly way. "Well, good travels to you." I smiled and nodded back to him before leaving the kitchens and into the crisp summer air. My horse, Dust, was waiting for me in the stables. The stallion whinnied when he saw me. I attached the pack to the back of Dust's saddle, Hullen watching carefully in case I needed anything. I swung myself onto Dust and he trotted into the courtyard.

Theon was walking into the courtyard as I was about to leave the castle. "Tell your mother I said hi." Theon called out, raising his hand to his mouth and causing his words to echo loudly. I smirked and didn't respond to him; Mother didn't know Theon personally, so I wouldn't be telling her anything he said.

Winter Town was already awake as I steered Dust through the cobblestoned village. Many of the villagers looked up at me once and then back down, others outright ignored me. Most of these villagers knew who I was, and they believed the stereotypes about bastards; that we were all untrustworthy and born to sin. I ignored them right back and, once I was out of the village, gently kicked Dust in the side so that he'd gallop.

Dust kicked up some mud as he started to run away from the castle and village. I smiled to myself as wind began to rip through my hair and ears and sting my face. Dust's galloping made my whole body lurch around with him as he dashed at a high speed down the dirt road. I didn't slow him down until we reached the fork in the road. One way led South, all the way to the capital; the other way went North, all the way to the Wall. I pulled the reins towards the North and Dust hurried off, not as fast as before.

Although it was still summer, the air had an icy bite to it. And even then, the cold wasn't as bad as it could've been. According to Old Nan, some summers had snow on the ground all the way until winter, when even deeper snows would come along. This summer, she had said, was the warmest summer she could remember.

I looked up at the sky again, keeping my eyes on the sheet of pale yellow clouds. Hopefully it didn't start snowing until I got to Mother's pig farm.

The clouds were blocking out the sun, so I wasn't able to see how much time had passed between my leaving Winterfell and when I finally stopped by the local river so that Dust could drink and rest. As the stallion drank his fill from the river, I kept my eyes locked onto the horizon, occasionally looking up at the clouds. There was a farm in the distance; I could see the outline of the hut and barn.

Dust and I stayed beside the river for another twenty minutes before I decided it was time to continue on. I hopped back onto Dust and we headed off, continuing our way North.

It still hadn't managed to snow when I finally reached the pig farm I'd been looking for. As I got closer to the farm, I spotted my younger half sister sitting atop the sty fence, holding a doll made of straw in her hands. She looked up with a jolt as I got closer and a smile broke out onto Meg's face.

"Helaena!" The seven year old cried out, jumping off the fence with a thud and running to Dust as fast as her short legs could carry her. I hopped off of him right in time for Meg to crash into me, wrapping her thin arms around my waist. When she finally released me, Meg jerked her head to the side, sweeping her blonde bangs out of the way without using her hands. "We have a new brother!"

"So I've heard." I said. Meg grabbed my fingers and pulled me closer to the small house made of stones. I quickly grabbed Dust's reins and pulled him along too. From out here, I could hear the baby crying inside.

A tall and thin man came out of the house and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me. Oliver, my mother's husband, had been a pig farmer all his life and it showed. He had always been very thin but with the muscular arms that came with the job. His blonde beard covered most of his face and blue eyes shone from underneath all that hair. He stared at me a moment before his beard smiled at me.

"Helaena," He said in a welcoming voice. Oliver stepped forward and gave me a brief hug, not lingering at all. "I'll go ahead and take care of Dust here; I'm sure he's tired from the journey."

"Thank you, Oliver," I managed to say before Meg pulled me into the house. I made sure to grab my pack before we entered the dark and dank building.

"Mama! Look who's here!" Meg shouted, finally letting go of my hand. I took in the house, from the dirt floor to the worn table and chairs that Oliver had made his bare hands. The house didn't have any windows, the only way outside was through the front door. There was a fireplace for cooking (a pot hanging over the flames) and keeping warm right across the room, and I could smell the used chamber pot that sat right next to the door. Meg went through the door that led to only other room in the whole house: the bedroom where the family of five all slept.

Meg appeared once more, followed closely by her older sister Terran, a girl of thirteen who had the same blonde hair as her father and sister. Terran didn't say anything to me but gave me a friendly smile; she had always been extremely shy ever since she was young. Behind Terran came our mother, Edy.

Edy always had a tired look to her, especially since she stopped working in the brothel. I always tried to imagine what she had been like when she had been with King Robert, but I could never get the image right. Even still, she smiled at me as if I was the best thing she could've been looking at and she swept forward to pull me into a tighter hug than Meg's.

"Oh, my darlin' daughter." Edy said in my ear so that Terran and Meg couldn't hear. Edy kissed my cheek with dry lips and continued to smile at me. "It's always a joy to see your face. Make yourself comfortable, dearie! I know how hard that trip is from Winterfell to here!"

I wanted to point out how the journey wasn't hard at all but thought better of it. Edy never got to dote on me, considering I had spent my childhood in a castle and not with her. I sat down on one of the chairs while Edy hustled around the room, the end of her skirt seeping the dirt floor. The skirt she was wearing itself was a dull and muted orange, something I had brought her myself a few years ago, but the ends had turned dark brown from the dirt and mud.

Edy went over to the fireplace and started pouring the contents from the pot into a bowl. I opened my mouth to start telling her that she didn't have to do that when she shushed me before I could begin. "Don't you dare say a word, Helaena." Edy said, pointing a finger at me and setting the bowl in front of me. I took it out of politeness and brought the stew to my lips, hardly tasting the broth as the heat stung my lips. I sipped it a little as the baby in the other room started to cry again.

"Terran, be a dear and go take care of your brother." Edy said. Terran ducked out of the room and into the bedroom at once. Edy looked over to Meg. "Meg, go outside and help Papa." Meg looked like she wanted to argue, but a stern look from Edy sent her out of the house. Finally, Edy turned back to me. "Now, what have you brought for your mama?"

I didn't say anything, just pulled my pack onto the table and taking out all of the food and the few pieces of cloth I had managed to get from Winter Town. Edy watched me with a calculating look, counting all of the supplies in her head. When I finally finished, I put my pack back onto the ground and Edy ran a hand over the food.

"This'll last us about a month," Edy said to herself. She looked up at me with that shrewd look of hers. "Pig farmin' a good life and all, but it pays less than you'd think."

"If I were you and if I had wanted more money, I would've stayed at the brothel." I said quietly, not quite meeting her gaze.

Edy snorted, much like the pigs outside. "There was no way Oliver was goin' to marry a whore. What can I say? I loved the man and he couldn't love a whore, so I did what I did." She gave a look at the bedroom door. "I wonder if Terran-"

"Don't even think about it." I snapped. Edy looked back at me with a raised eyebrow. This time, I met her gaze evenly, "I could get her a decent job in Winterfell. A handmaiden or a kitchen wench."

"A servant, you mean?" Edy asked. I didn't respond and she snorted again. "And what about Meg, huh? You'll save one sister but leave the other here?"

"Meg's only seven." I pointed out. "She could-"

"D'you really think that highborn lady of the castle will let either of my daughters touch her fancy dresses? Comb her hair or prepare her food? You may have stopped tellin' me about life in your castle, Helaena, but I know for a fact that highborn ladies don't change."

I set my jaw. "If I get either of them a job at Winterfell, will you let them go to live there?" I asked, ignoring her statement about Catelyn. Honestly I wasn't able to tell if Catelyn would be willing to let either of my half sisters in her home. But right now Catelyn was still hiding in Bran's room. Robb had taken charge of the castle.

Edy snorted a final time and shrugged. "Why not?" That was as good as I was going to get from her. So I stood up and walked out of the house, leaving my bowl of broth on the table with the rest of the food and supplies. I planned to take Dust farther North to the tiny village I always stayed at whenever I came on these trips to see Edy. I said a brief goodbye to Oliver and gave another hug to Meg before mounting my horse and heading towards the village.

As I turned to give the pig farm one last look before I disappeared over the hill, I saw Edy standing outside her door, watching me go with narrowed eyes.


	7. 7: Secrets

"I leave for one day and disaster happens?" I asked, taking in the burned library tower. Maester Luwin had just left the scene to go to Catelyn's chambers so that he could check on her wounded hands. I had gotten a glimpse of the bandages that made her fingers look like fat, white sausages.

Theon snorted from his spot beside me. "Maybe you should take that as a sign to stop leaving." He said with a smirk. I rolled my eyes at him and looked to Robb.

"Any idea as to who tried to kill Bran?" I asked him.

"Not yet." Robb said, not looking away from the burned tower. Grey Wind sat by his master's side, looking up at the tower as well. Bran's direwolf hadn't left Bran's room since the attack. I gave the courtyard another look around, searching for the young Rickon and his Shaggydog. But they were nowhere to be seen. I made a mental note to check in on Rickon some time later; he needed someone to help him through all of this.

Robb looked away from the burned library tower and looked to me and Theon. "Helaena, I need you to go to where Maester Luwin is in my brother's room. I know he was talking about being low on supplies before all of this happened."

I nodded at Robb and started walking towards Bran's quarters. Robb and Theon started talking the moment I was gone, but I was already too far away to hear what they were saying. I passed by several of the servants on my way to Bran's room, and several of them were crying or talking to each other in hushed voices. I hurried past them and up to the familiar door. I knocked and heard the "Enter." from Measter Luwin.

When I saw Bran lying in the bed, I almost turned right back around and left.

The little boy was so small, so pitiful looking in that large bed. Catelyn was sitting beside the bed, having not noticed me in here yet, fiddling her fingers in their fat white bandages. She looked to be in better shape than the one had left her in; her auburn hair was tied back into a neat braid and bun, and it looked like she had finally bathed since Bran fell. Both of their faces were pale white and while Catelyn was shaking with emotion, Bran was perfectly still.

"Helaena, what can we do for you?" Measter Luwin asked me from where he had been sitting at the desk. I blinked and turned to him, anything to keep from seeing Bran's shrunken form again. Catelyn looked up at me and her eyes flashed, looking for a moment displeased to see me of all people standing there. But she steeled herself and stood up, along with Measter Luwin.

"Robb mentioned something about how your medical stores were low, maester." I said, avoiding looking at Bran.

"You mean Lord Stark," Catelyn snapped, narrowing her eyes at me. I blinked at her and cleared my throat slightly.

"Um, yes, _Lord Stark_ mentioned something-"

"That is fine, Helaena, you don't need to repeat yourself." Measter Luwin said, glancing at Catelyn from the corner of his gray eyes. "I am running low on my medicine stores. I've been needing to go into Winter's Town for a while now, but circumstances have kept me here."

"I can go and get more medicine for you." I offered.

Measter Luwin shuffled over to the desk and quickly scribbled something onto a piece of parchment. He returned to me and handed me the parchment, "This is everything I need right now, Helaena. If you can get everything, that would be excellent. If not, we'll have to make do."

"Any idea when he'll wake up?" I asked slowly, finally daring to look at Bran's comatose form. The little boy was breathing heavily, looking like he was in a very uncomfortable sleep.

Catelyn opened her mouth to say something, but the maester cut her off. "I'm not sure, Helaena. But the sooner you get the medicine, it just might help." I took the list from him and nodded deeply to both the lady and the maester before leaving the room, feeling a lot more comfortable now that I was away from Catelyn's heated gaze.

I knew where the apothecary was in Winter's Town, and it was within walking distance of the castle. I left the walls of Winterfell without running into anyone else and I started to walk down the road towards the apothecary. The villagers walked around me and ignored me, and I ignored them right back.

The trip to the apothecary went fast. I handed my list to the man who ran the stone house that was the apothecary and he found all the herbs Maester Luwin needed. I paid the man heavily, giving him a tip to show him the gratitude of the Stark family. The man smiled widely at me when he saw the small pile of silver coins, showing off a mouth that was missing a few teeth. I smiled kindly at him back and started back up the main street to where Winterfell's gray walls loomed overhead.

"Where are you off to, Lady Snow?"

I looked over my shoulder at the familiar voice and spotted Ros, the redheaded whore from the brothel in town. I grit my teeth at her and tried to ignore her. Ros caught onto what I was trying to fast and hurried over until she was walking right at my side.

"Do you need something?" I asked her through the corner of my mouth, keeping a tight grip on the wrapped bundle of medicine.

"I was going to ask you the same thing." Ros said with a sniff. "You haven't been around lately; Violet was getting worried."

I halted and turned to face the taller woman head on. Ros matched my gaze evenly. The townspeople milled around us, moving past and pretending not to watch the scene unfold in front of them.

In a hushed voice, I hissed at Ros, "I thought I paid Violet those extra golden dragons for her _discretion._ "

Ros shrugged at me with a slight smile. "If you're worried about her telling anyone about you coming to visit her, you shouldn't. She's only told me and Pearl."

"Discretion doesn't mean tell two people!" I hissed, feeling my teeth start to hurt and my heart beating hard in my chest. Ros's smile was gone and she gave me a look of what could've been mistaken for sympathy. Ros inched deeper into the nearby alley and I followed.

"I'm not going to tell anyone, Lady Snow." Ros said. "Pearl, frankly doesn't care as long as you don't try to visit her. And Violet likes you too much to tell anyone who could cause you trouble. Your secret is safe with the three of us." She paused and scanned my still stress out face. "You're not the first woman to come in looking for another woman."

"Well, if you got some male employment I'd go to him then." I said, glancing over my shoulder to make sure no one was listening.

"So you can really do that?" Ros asked, sounding genuinely curious. "You can go to either man or woman and bed them?"

"It's a lot more complicated than that and I don't have all day to explain it." I said curtly, looking over my shoulder again but this time to where the gray blur of the castle's wall was. "I have to get back with the medicine; Maester Luwin will be wondering where I've been."

Ros raised an eyebrow at me, as if she didn't really believe me. "All right then. I'll tell Violet I ran into you and that you're fine. But have some decency and visit her, not just for yourself but for her. She's been worried sick about you-"

"Okay, okay, fine." I said, waving a hand at Ros just to shut her up. "Tell Violet I'll see her soon."

Ros smiled, smugly this time. "Gladly. Fare thee well, Lady Snow." She gave me a wave of her fingers before walking past me and into the main street. I watched her go for a moment, just for a moment. But then she was gone. I breathed heavily for a moment, calming myself back down, before exiting the alley and heading towards the familiar and welcoming walls of Winterfell.


	8. 8: Goodbye Until Tomorrow

I paced around my room in Winterfell, struggling to pack lightly for the trip ahead. My pack had a warm dress and a light cloak wrapped tightly into a bundle, making plenty of room for everything else I could possibly need, but the problem was that I had no idea what I could possibly need for a trip to the capital considering I had never even been there.

Right when I had gotten back from Winter Town, I could sense that something was different. Robb had wasted no time approaching me and filling me in on the small meeting that had occurred soon after I had left.

"My mother is leaving for King's Landing this afternoon," Robb explained to me from where we sat in the Great Hall. "To tell Father about what happened to Bran. She doesn't trust a raven with this news and neither do I." He paused and heaved a sigh. "Ser Rodrik will be going with her, and I want you to go as well."

I immediately opened my mouth to protest but Robb cut me off. "Please don't argue with me, Laena. Mother shouldn't be traveling that far with only one knight accompanying her; I want you there too so that you can help Ser Rodrik protecting her."

My first thought was that I was sure that Catelyn would just _love_ the thought of traveling down to King's Landing with me for company. My second thought was of Violet, who I would have to go visit before we left. My last thought was of my two younger half sisters and my pig farming mother, who would be expecting me to drop off rations next month.

I narrowed my eyes at Robb. "Fine. I'll go, but I want you to promise me something, Robb. My younger sisters, Terran and Meg, they need work and I want you to bring them here to the castle to work. Don't ask why, Robb! They can clean or help in the kitchens; Seven Hells I think they'd be able to work in the stables or kennels. I don't care what job you give them just give them something _please_."

Robb listened to me with an unknown expression on his face. When I finished, he sighed heavily and said, "I'll see what I can do, Laena. I can't promise you anything though."

"Thank you for trying though," I said, smiling wide at him and feeling affection for my friend well up in my chest. Robb smiled warmly back, and I couldn't help but think that he'd be a great lord of Winterfell one day.

Now I was struggling to pack. I rushed to my window and looked out of it, checking the sun's position. Lady Catelyn and Ser Rodrik wanted to leave Winterfell as soon as the sun was in the center of the sky. The sun was getting painfully close to that point.

I huffed a sigh and started to throw the clothes that would be better for warmer weather into the bag, winding them up and packing them with ease. Once I had clothes, I threw in a bunch of artifacts I might need, including my sack of saved up money. I deemed myself packed up and started to leave my room, but some feeling stopped me at the door.

I turned and looked around the room I had been living in all of my life. The small room was mostly taken up by the huge bed, warm with quilts and furs. I remember being five years old and being ecstatic that Lord Ned Stark had found me this huge bed for me to grow into. I had hidden in here during games with much younger versions of Robb, Theon, and Jon. I had practiced stitching and needle work in this room. I had cried in here when I had been young and my feelings were still easily hurt by Catelyn. I remember being eleven and being very confused about having a crush on the blond girl who lived in Winter Town. I had spent my most private moments of my life in this room, it was my favorite place in the entire castle.

And some weird instinct was telling me that I wouldn't see it again for a very long time.

Dust was waiting for me in the stables and I quickly saddled him up and mounted my horse. As I rode my horse towards the gate, Ser Rodrik, coming out of the armory, stopped and confronted me as to where I was going. "I have something to do in town before we go. You and Lady Stark start without me; I'll catch up as soon as I'm done."

Ser Rodrik sighed. "Alright, Helaena. Be sure to catch up before dark." I promised that I will and rode Dust to the gate. I was almost in the clear when Theon sped walked towards me. I huffed a sigh dramatically and stopped my horse as the guards opened the gate for me.

Theon stopped right beside Dust and me. "Whatever happened to you not leaving anymore?"

I snorted. "Sorry, Theon. Apparently Lady Catelyn needs me more than you do."

"You don't know how much I need you, Lady Snow." Theon said in a low voice. I blinked at him, and the older boy looked away from me and towards the town. "Well, if you happen to run into any Lannisters, give them a good right hook for me, Lady Snow."

"Anything for you, Greyjoy." I said. Theon blinked at that but didn't turn to look at me. I looked away from him and gently poked Dust's sides with my heels. Dust started to walk away, leaving Theon behind. I looked around at him and he met my gaze for a moment. "See you when I see you, Greyjoy."

Theon didn't say anything else to me as I passed the gate, but right before I turned away to face forward, I could've sworn that I saw him smile at my back.

The whorehouse of Winter Town was just about three miles north of the town. The whores themselves often went into town for goods, which explained why I saw Ros earlier today. I rode Dust into the attached stable and carried my loaded pack with me into the whorehouse itself; there were too many thieves around her and I didn't want all of my stuff to be stolen before I started for King's Landing.

A tidal wave of perfume attacked my nose the moment I stepped into the brothel. My eyes started to water and my nose wrinkled up and I quickly rubbed it away. I recognized Pearl whispering into a client's ear, topless despite the chill outside. She caught me looking at her and her eyes narrowed cruelly. I mouthed Violet's name to her and Pearl jerked her head subtly to the stairs heading to the second floor.

It took me two minutes to climb the stairs to Violet's room; I was giving her time in case she was with a client right now. I paused outside of her door and didn't hear anything going on in there, so I knocked twice and entered.

I had lost count of the times I had come into this room, as Violet was the only whore near Winterfell who was even interested in other women. The fact was pretty much a secret and it had taken Theon dragging me here for Violet to introduce herself and for this secret affair of ours to start.

Violet was beautiful with long brunette hair that reached her waist and bright green eyes that felt like they were staring into my soul. She was the only person, man or woman, who I had ever been with in bed, and she completely accepted my conflicting romantic interests. One time when I had asked her if she ever felt conflicted the way I did, she had hesitated before shaking her head.

"I've only ever had eyes for women, but that doesn't stop me from pleasing men when they come knocking on my door." Violet had told me. I had blinked, feeling even more confused than ever. But Violet had leaned forward and kissed me deeply, chasing my thoughts far away.

I had just sat my pack down onto the comfy chair in the corner of the room when Violet entered from her private powder room. I found myself feeling my stomach squirm as it always did whenever I saw her, and she crossed the room in about five steps and she pressed her mouth against mine. I closed my eyes tightly and kissed her back, my hands instantly finding their way into her long and soft hair. But then Violet pulled away and I was left swaying, feeling as though someone had knocked me upside the head.

Violet stared at me with those big green eyes. "Where have you been, Laeney?" She asked, using the pet name she had given me on my first visit. "I haven't seen you since the king came to visit. Wait, he didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, he didn't," I told her, scanning her face and trying to memorize the tiny amount of freckles she had on her cheekbones. "I came to tell you something, Violet. I have to go to for a while; it's going to be a while before I can come again."

"Where are you going?" Violet asked, finally looking behind me to my pack.

I hesitated before settling on, "I don't think I can tell you."

Violet looked at me with what could've been hurt in her eyes. "Are you going to live with your father? Is that why you're leaving?"

"No, I'll be back but just not for a long while." I said, starting to feel frustration. "I can't explain it but you have to trust me when I say that I'll be coming back when I get back here. I came to say goodbye for now." There was a tense moment of silence in which Violet just stared at me. I shifted my feet and opened my mouth to say something else, but Violet cut me off by kissing me again.

When we separated again, Violet said. "Stay with me for a while, Laeney. Free of charge, I promise."

"That seems really bad for business."

"If you really think that I'm still fucking you for business reasons only," Violet said, her voice getting lower in what I knew was her seductive voice. "Then you're the stupidest lady I've ever met."

I wanted to correct her and say that I wasn't a lady, but she was already untying the strings to the pants I was wearing, so I shut my mouth and tried not to think about the long road ahead.


	9. 9: King's Landing

I had straightened myself up before leaving Violet's room. She watched me from where she was laying sprawled on the bed, smiling sadly. She would rather have me stay here for much longer, but I had already been here for close to two hours, and by now Lady Catelyn and Ser Rodrik were miles ahead of me. Violet kissed me goodbye and I was finally able to leave without paying her a single coin for her time.

Dust and I galloped past Winter Town and Winterfell and started heading south only an hour and a half later than Catelyn and Rodrik.

It took me about another hour of running to find Lady Catelyn and Ser Rodrik trotting their way south. I veered Dust off of the road and we ran ahead, finally slowing down and stopping so that Dust could rest for a little while before the two of them caught up. As we waited, I patted my horse's neck and scratched the spot behind his ears.

"Where have you been?" Catelyn asked as they got within speaking distance. She was glaring at me with a sense of mistrust and I tried my best to ignore her mistrusting gaze.

"I had something to do in town before we left." I said vaguely. Catelyn looked like she wanted to argue with me, but she pinched her mouth shut and didn't say anything. Ser Rodrik also looked suspicious, but he didn't say anything either. The pair of them started walking ahead of me on their horses and I raised an eyebrow at their backs and silently cursed Robb for making me go on this trip.

* * *

For the most part of the trip, Catelyn and Rodrik mostly ignored me. Catelyn tried her hardest to ignore me altogether, and Rodrik would some times send me ahead to scout and make sure that our way was clear. I knew he was just doing it so that Catelyn and I didn't have to spend an awful amount of time together, and for the most part, it worked.

It also gave me time alone with my thoughts that usually either wandered back to Winterfell with Robb and Theon and Violet, or to the Wall where I knew Jon was supposed to be training, or down south to where the king lived.

I knew that we were on a secret mission to warn Lord Eddard about how someone plotted to kill his son, but I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if we ran into the king; if I ran into the king. He had said that King's Landing was a dangerous place for bastards. What exactly did he mean by that?

The weather was so much warmer down here, more than I was comfortable with. I made the mistake of complaining in front of Catelyn and she had gone on and on for several minutes about how I shouldn't have come if I was going to complain about something as small as the weather. It had taken all I had to bite my tongue and not say anything I could regret later.

I smelled the city before I actually saw it. I wrinkled my nose in disgust; it literally smelled like shit and salt water. I glanced over at Lady Catelyn and Ser Rodrik; they both had their noses wrinkled as well. I shook my head as Ser Rodrik started to lead the way towards one of the back gates to the city. We climbed the hill and I could sort of see the faint red towers of the castle. And then we made it to the top of the hill.

King's Landing was much bigger than I could've imagined. The city itself was on another hill, and the Red Keep was perched next to the ocean. I could see the golden and rounded top of the sept. The city spread itself wide but it still looked uncomfortably cramped. From up here, I could see thin streets and alleys and the tiny specks of people walking down those streets.

"Come along now," Ser Rodrik said, taking the lead on the road. "We must hurry if we want to see Lord Eddard by nightfall."

Catelyn and I ended up riding our horses next to each other and I looked over at her. "We're supposed to be here in secret, right? How are we supposed to see Lord Eddard without anyone else knowing about it?"

Lady Stark didn't answer, and she looked vaguely troubled by my words. But she didn't respond and she nudged her horse so that she was riding beside Ser Rodrik. I glared at her back and fought the urge to turn right back around and ride until I was back home in Winterfell.

The stench of the city got worse as we got closer. Lady Catelyn and Ser Rodrik crossed through the gate to the capital and I nudged Dust so that I was walking on the other side of Ser Rodrik.

"Fewer eyes back here," Ser Rodrik said. "Much less of a chance of being seen."

Lady Catelyn still looked around the cobbled streets with narrowed eyes. "It's been nine years since I last set foot in the capital. And no one knew who I was then."

We weren't even walking for that long before two men in golden cloaks and chain mail approached us on horseback. I had just narrowed my eyes at them when one of them said, "Welcome to King's Landing, Lady Stark. Would you care to come with us?"

"No we would not!" Lady Catelyn said, looking appalled that we had been approached this fast. "We've done nothing wrong."

"We've been instructed to escort you into the city, Lady Stark." The city watchman explained vaguely.

"Instructed?" Catelyn echoed. The city watchman trotted his horse forward and handed Catelyn a scroll. Catelyn quickly tore the letter open and looked furious at what was written on it. When she finished reading it, she looked to both me and Ser Rodrik with exasperation before nodding to the city watchmen to guide us wherever. One of them took the rear of our party while the one who spoke took the front, and we were squished between them without any options of getting away.

Dust whinnied in fear as we continued down the crowded streets. He didn't like this anymore than I did. I tried patting him calm as we trudged through the streets. The common folk of King's Landing gave me looks as we passed, taking in the city watchmen both in front of and behind us. A filthy looking six year old was staring me down in particular, barely even looking at Lady Catelyn or Ser Rodrik. I stared back at him, frowning, until the little boy ran away, barefooted.

Several minutes after trotting through the poor section of King's Landing, we finally seemed to reach our destination. I took one look at the topless women hanging out of the windows and balcony of the second floor and automatically knew that we had been brought to a brothel of all places. The city watchmen had us all dismount and a servant of the brothel took all three horses away.

Catelyn held her head high as she led the way into the brothel, looking even more furious than before. Ser Rodrik and I had no choice but to follow her into the brothel and up the narrow set of stairs. As we climbed, a whore tried walking down. The three of us flattened ourselves against the opposite wall as her and she smirked as she passed. I stared up at the wall beyond her and I stayed on Catelyn's heels as she started to climb again.

Whoever had sent the letter must've told Catelyn exactly where they'd be because she marched right down the hallway and into a room. I followed her right as a man I had never seen before cheerily called out, "Cat!"

Lady Catelyn retaliated by chucking the crumbled letter at the man, which he ended up ducking right before it hit his head. "You little worm!" She shouted. "You take me for a back alley Sally? Who you can drag here to a-"

Catelyn was cut off by the entrance of a whore, once again topless, and a clothed man who looked overweight and sweaty. I didn't have time to feel sorry for the poor girl before the thin man who had brought us here hissed at the pair of them. The whore blinked and looked mildly offended before taking her client by the hands and guiding him out of the room.

Violet came into my mind, and all the stuff she had to do to men whenever they visited her. I promptly shook my head and turned away from the whores and the faraway sounds of young babies upstairs.

"I meant no disrespect," The thin man said, smiling at Lady Catelyn in an odd way. "I would never, especially to you of all people."

"Have you lost your mind?" Catelyn asked, completely ignoring what he had just said.

"No one will come looking for you here," The man explained. "Isn't that what you wanted? I truly am sorry about the local." He had a certain way of articulating his words and I couldn't help but wonder if that was a Southern thing or just something that he did himself.

"How did you know I was coming to King's Landing?" Catelyn asked the next question on my mind.

The man gestured to the area right behind us. "A dear friend told me."

I turned along with Ser Rodrik and Lady Catelyn as another man, this one bald, smelling a lot like perfume, and wearing soft looking robes, entered the room. "Lady Stark," He greeted her, bowing his bald and powdered head slightly.

"Lord Varys," Lady Catelyn replied, not returning the nod. I blinked as I remembered old stories about the spy master of King's Landing. The eunuch whom everyone called the Spider.

Lord Varys smiled thinly at Catelyn. "To see you again after all these years, is a blessing. And your poor hands-" He reached out and held Catelyn's hands for just a moment, long enough for both me and Ser Rodrik and reach to our blades still strapped to our sides. But Lady Catelyn pried her injured and healing hands out of Varys's and she took a step back to straighten herself.

"How did _you_ know I was coming?" She asked, holding her head up high. I removed my hand from the dagger attached to my lower back.

"Knowledge is my trade, my lady." Varys said with a knowing smile that didn't meet his eyes. "Did you bring the dagger by any chance? My little birds are everywhere, even in the North."

Catelyn and Rodrik exchanged a slightly panicked glance. I felt my stomach lurch with unease. How could he know about the dagger? We hadn't told anyone why we coming down to the capital, and Ser Rodrik had made sure that we stayed in inns where common folk would, no castles of lords and ladies for us. Ser Rodrik handed the concealed dagger over to the Spider, who inspected it with great care.

"Valyrian steel," Varys practically whispered.

"Do you know whose dagger this is?" Catelyn asked, staring hard at Lord Varys.

But Varys slightly frowned and Catelyn seemed to deflate a little. "I am afraid I do not."

The thin man behind us laughed darkly and everyone turned to look at him. "Well, this is a historic day. Finally, something I know that you don't. That dagger was _mine_." My hand was back onto my own dagger, in case Catelyn needed help. The thin man shrugged, that smug smile still on his face. "At least it was, until I lost it in a wager on Prince Joffrey's last name day.

"I bet on Ser Jaime for the jousting, as any sane man would." He explained, staring deep into Catelyn's eyes as he spoke. "But then the Knight of the Flowers unseated him, and I lost that dagger."

"To whom?" Catelyn asked.

"To Tyrion Lannister, the Imp."


	10. 10: Crossroads

The thin man was named Petyr Baelish, also known as Littlefinger. He found three rooms for myself, Lady Catelyn, and Ser Rodrik on the top floor. "My most expensive and luxurious rooms." Littlefinger explained, more like bragging. The rooms were rather large, filled with bright fabrics and blankets, but there always seemed to be a cloud of incense in the air, making it hard to get a breath of fresh air.

Littlefinger also promised to bring Lord Eddard to the brothel, so that he could speak to Catelyn about the dagger and how someone had tried to murder their son. No, not someone-the dwarf of house Lannister.

I still couldn't believe that the Imp had tried to kill Bran. When I had met him, he had been polite, kind even, not the kind of man who would send an assassin to kill a ten year old boy.

I paced the length of my room as my heart started to beat faster. My breathing got deeper the longer I stared at these gaudy paintings on naked people on the walls surrounding me. I stopped pacing and tried to get my breathing under control again, but it was hard. I shut my eyes tightly and sat down on the floor, pressing my hands against the sides of my head and taking deep, steadying breaths, anything to make the room stop spinning.

By the time I was calm again, there was a soft knock on the door. "Enter," I said without stopping to think about who could be on the other side. The door opened to reveal one of the whores, but this one was dressed properly and she had a baby attached to a sling on her back. I stood up off the ground and the young girl stared at me questioningly.

"What were you doing on the floor, m'lady?" She asked me. Her voice was incredibly soft and light.

"I, uh, had to stop and breathe for a moment," I said dismissively. "It was nothing, really. Can I help you?"

The girl looked to be about sixteen, maybe fifteen. She smiled and shook her head. "No, I was told by Lord Baelish to come and fetch you. Lady Stark and the knight are going to leave right before sundown, you see. So Lord Baelish told me to come up here and tell you."

"Oh, well thank you," I said, nodding. The girl smiled again at me and I finally looked to the tiny baby on her back. A head full of black hair was peeking out over the top. "How old is your child?" I asked.

The young girl smiled even wider. "She's just two months, my little Barra. She's got her father's look, she does."

"Congratulations," I told the young mother, ignoring the stab of pity I felt for her being so young and already the mother to a child. Did she even know who the father was...? I had to assume that she did because she just said that the baby looked like her father. The young girl smiled once again at me and ducked out of the room. The last thing I saw of her was the tiny tuft of black hair that her daughter had.

* * *

Littlefinger gave us enough supplies and food to make it back to Winterfell. I went off with Ser Rodrik around sunset to get the three horses ready for travel. Dust whinnied a greeting at me and I happily hopped onto my horse's back.

Ser Rodrik and I waited outside of the brothel with Lady Catelyn's horse while she said goodbye to her husband. Lord Eddard and Catelyn stood a little ways away, their heads bent close and they were talking to each other so quietly I couldn't overhear a word they were saying. Finally, the two of them kissed deeply and separated, as Lady Catelyn started to come back to her horse.

As Lady Catelyn mounted her horse, Lord Eddard and I somehow locked eyes. The lord of Winterfell somehow looked older and more tired than he had the last time I saw him. But he gave me a deep nod in what could've been a form of respect. I nodded deeply back to him and turned Dust around so that we could finally leave this shit-stinking city. Ser Rodrik was right behind me and Lady Catelyn followed a little ways behind us.

The three of us traveled on the road until well after nightfall, the shadows growing longer and darker as the sun finally set beyond the horizon. There was an inn about twelve miles away from the capital's gates, and when we finally stopped there for the night, I noticed that the stench of shit and salt water wasn't lingering anymore.

At first light the next day, we started towards the North and continued our journey home. I took the lead this time, eager to get back North. Dust moved at a fast trot, as if he knew where we were going. What was I thinking, wanting to come and live down here with the other half of the Stark family and the royal family? Winterfell was my home, with its gray looks and cold weather. Right now all I wanted was to go beyond those walls of the castle, find the biggest pile of clean snow, and bury my head in it. Anything to get away from this area's muggy and uncomfortable heat.

I could tell that Ser Rodrik and Lady Catelyn felt the same as I. We seemed to be moving faster than before just to get away from King's Landing. By the end of that first day of travel, we were already several dozen miles away from the capital and crawling our way up the country and into the North.

Three nights into the journey north, we stopped at a tavern, trying to keep a low profile. This tavern was close to a small village; as the horses were put into the stable for the night, I could look out over the horizon and see the lights of the village. From the village my eyes drifted upward into the sky, and I heaved a sigh. I wanted nothing more than to see snow clouds up there instead of clear skies.

"Why do you do that, Helaena?" Lady Catelyn's voice behind me made me jump. She automatically noticed. "My apologies; I didn't mean to frighten you."

"It's alright, my lady," I said. "And what d'you mean when you ask why I do...what exactly?"

Lady Catelyn looked up at the sky, the same way I did. "I've known you for seventeen years now, Helaena. And not a day has gone by without me spotting you looking up at the sky at seemingly random times of the day. I've always wondered why you do it, so why do you?"

I blinked and shifted my feet. "It's sort of a force of habit by now." I confessed. Lady Catelyn raised her eyebrows, waiting for further explanation. "Back when I was really young, when Sansa was just born and the Greyjoy Rebellion was defeated, King Robert came to Winterfell to make sure Theon was delivered there."

"I distinctly remember that." Lady Catelyn said slowly. "He kept you at his side the entire time he stayed with us."

I nodded. "Yes he did. And I remember the night before he left to go back to King's Landing. He told me that no matter how far apart we were, we were still weren't that far away from each other. Because of the sky. He told me that the sky we lived under was the same, and that somehow made it all better that he left me up there for years."

Catelyn was watching me with what could've been a sort of pity. I met her eyes for a moment and continued. "He told me that night that he'd be back soon. That he'd take me south with him and that we'd get to spend time together. But he never came back. King Robert promised me he'd come back to visit and I didn't see him again for thirteen years."

"You have a right to be bitter, Helaena." Catelyn told me. "But maybe something happened that changed his plans."

"It's not hard to send a raven, my lady." I pointed out.

Catelyn smiled slightly despite herself. She turned and gestured to the tavern. "Come on inside, Helaena. Ser Rodrik has already found us a table and is probably wondering what's become of us." I sighed heavily and started for the tavern, and Catelyn actually patted me when I walked past her.

Lady Catelyn and I didn't mention to Ser Rodrik about what we talked about outside, and for the most part we ate our dinner in silence, so that no nosy travelers could hear and report to the queen what we had gone down to King's Landing for.

The next morning showed a drastic change in Lady Catelyn's feelings towards me. We rode side by side for a while, leaving Ser Rodrik behind as Catelyn tried to talk to me about what it was like for me to grow up in Winterfell. I wanted to point out that she had been there so she technically should've known, but I didn't. It was a nice change of pace for Catelyn to be treating me this differently. But all the while, I couldn't help but wonder if she and Lord Eddard had spoken about me in that brothel, and if that was the reason she was trying to be so kind.

There was an inn on the crossroad simply known as just that, and we decided to stay there for the night. Ser Rodrik got us a table with Lady Catelyn while I dragged the horses into the stable. By the time I was finished and inside of the inn, there was a minstrel sitting at the table with Catelyn and Rodrik, singing a song and strumming his lyre.

"Excuse me?" I interrupted the minstrel's song. The man turned around and looked me up and down before cracking a wide and white smile at me.

"Why, you're excused, my fair maiden." He said, drawing out his words. I frowned deeply at him as he stood up and made a grand gesture of giving me his seat. I caught Catelyn's eye and rolled mine. "Shall I sing the popular, _Bear and the Maiden Fair_?"

"No." I snapped.

At the exact same time, Ser Rodrik said, "I'd rather throw myself down a well."

The door to the inn creaked open loudly. Naturally, I turned to see who had entered, and I froze when I saw that it was none other than Tyrion Lannister. Lady Catelyn and Ser Rodrik saw him as well and we all tried to duck and make ourselves as invisible as possible.

The minstrel, however, cried out when he recognized the Imp. "My lord of Lannister! Perhaps I could sing for you the song of your father's victory of King's Landing?"

"Nothing would ruin my appetite more." Tyrion said with snark. There was a heavy pause and then I felt the burn of someone staring at me. "Lady Stark! What an unexpected pleasure. I am sorry to have missed you at Winterfell."

The atmosphere of the inn changed drastically. Suddenly, every eye in the inn was on our table, waiting to see if Catelyn really was the lady of the North. Lady Catelyn turned slowly to face Tyrion Lannister. And then she stood up, removing her hood to reveal her dark auburn hair. Ser Rodrik stood up as well and I followed suit, keeping my hand on my dagger the same way he was keeping his hand on his sword.

"I was still Catelyn Tully the last time I stayed here." Lady Catelyn began. She looked off and her eyes landed on a young man near the bar. "You. Is that the black bat of Harrenhal I see on your coat?"

"It is, my lady," The young man said, standing up.

"And is Lady Whent a loyal friend to my father, Lord Hoster Tully of Riverrun?"

"She is."

Catelyn's gaze went to the next group of men, and I started to get where she was going with this. "The red stallion was always a welcome sight at Riverrun. My father considers Lord Bracken to be one his oldest friends."

"My lord is honored by his trust."

And then the next group. "I know your sigil as well. The twin towers of Frey. How fare's your lord?"

"All is well, my lady. He plans to invite your father to his ninetieth name day; he plans to take another wife."

Tyrion let out a laugh at that. I glared at the dwarf, which he didn't notice. Catelyn turned herself around until she was facing Tyrion again. She pointed one of her injured fingers at him. "This man came into my home as a guest. And there he planned to murder my son; my ten year old son. In the name of King Robert and the good lords you serve, I command you to seize this man and take him to Winterfell, so that he can face the king's justice."

All at once, every man who Catelyn had called upon stood from their chairs and drew their swords, pointing them at Tyrion Lannister, who stood between all of them, powerless to stop what was happening to him.


	11. 11: The Vale

Tyrion Lannister had a sack thrown over his head and his hands bound in front of him. Despite the fact that it would've been great to wait until dawn to transport the Imp to Winterfell, Lady Catelyn wanted to move out as quickly as possible. I hurried to get more meat and mead for the journey back as Ser Rodrik readied the horses.

Along with the Imp came the men of the houses that Catelyn had called upon, and that minstrel who had wanted to sing for us. I wanted Lady Catelyn to turn him away and say something along the lines of, "We have no need for singers on this journey, thank you."

But she didn't. So the minstrel got himself a horse and brought up the rear of the suddenly large traveling party.

The first thing I noticed was that we were no longer heading north. We were going east. I frowned deeply and nudged Dust until I rode alongside Catelyn at the very front of the party.

"My lady," I started. "I hate to question you on your sense of direction, but we're going east."

Lady Catelyn made a sudden gesture, indicating my voice to stay down. She gave a very pointed glance to where the Imp was being guarded by Ser Rodrik and a knight from the Twins of Frey.

"We are heading east, Helaena." Catelyn told me in a low voice. "To my sister at the Eyrie."

I had never met Lady Catelyn's younger sister, but I knew enough about her to know that she probably won't be happy with an unwanted visit from his older sister. Other than that, I knew next to nothing about Lysa Arryn.

The entourage of knights from the riverlands stopped for the night in an open field several miles away from the Crossroads Inn. I couldn't help but wonder how far north we could've gotten by now, but I didn't voice my opinion to Lady Catelyn.

I stayed as close to Lady Catelyn as I could that night. She might've trusted the knights and sellswords who had accompanied us to not turn on us for the prospect of Lannister gold, but I didn't. Robb had personally given me the task of guarding and protecting his mother. I couldn't fail him by letting Lady Catelyn die by the hands of a dozen sellswords and knights.

I didn't like the way the one sellsword was looking at the bound and blindfolded Imp. His blue eyes kept shifting over to Tyrion's hooded face. At some point the sellsword caught me looking and he smirked at me with one eyebrow raised. I narrowed my eyes at him and held his gaze until he finally turned away.

By dawn of the next morning, I was exhausted. I had been too on edge all night to sleep, so I spent most of the night sitting outside of Catelyn's tent, glaring at any stranger who came close. The men who had joined the entourage seemed to pay me no mind; I was just the bastard who was sitting at the edge of the crowd. The men had made two large fires and were all crowding around them. One of the Whent knights had tied the Imp up to a tree.

Tyrion Lannister was still making feeble attempts to call out for help, but the men around the fire were too busy laughing at each other's jokes and singing songs like _The Dornishman's Wife,_ led by that damn minstrel named Marillion. From where I was sitting, I could hear what the Imp was shouting.

"My father will wonder what has become of me," The Imp was telling no one at this point. "He'll pay a handsome reward to any man who brings him word of what happened here this evening."

That one sellsword looked back at Tyrion at this, and I felt my heart momentarily stop. But then he turned back around as the Imp continued to try to recruit someone's help. I got up and walked over to where the Lannister was tied and I squatted next to him. The Imp shut up and stiffened, no doubt sensing my presence there.

"Whoever you are, I can assure you that my father will pay you heavily for-"

"Shut up," I interrupted him. The dwarf stiffened again and after a moment of silence, relaxed once more.

"I knew I saw you in the crowd, Helaena Snow." Tyrion said. "Have you come to gag me?"

"No," I said. "I've come to tell you to shut up. For the love of the gods, keep your mouth shut."

"Or what? You're afraid some of those lovely men will come to their senses and free me?" He asked, his voice slightly muffled by the sack still over his head. "I will confess to you, bastard, I had no hand in the attempt on Bran Stark's life."

I narrowed my eyes at the sack on his head. "Why should I believe you?"

"I have a tender spot in my heart for cripples, bastards, and broken things." Tyrion Lannister said simply, as if that statement should explain everything. "I bear no ill will against your surrogate family, there is nothing I could gain from trying to kill a ten year old boy. I swear it by your old gods and the new, and I never swear on them for anything."

What he was saying was starting to tug at my defenses. He did have a point as to how he supposedly bore no ill will towards the Starks; but then I remembered what Catelyn had said about how she believed that Bran had seen something he shouldn't have. I thought of the image of young Bran, broken in that large bed with his direwolf resting beside him.

"I'm not the one who decides whether you go free or not, Imp." I told him. "Now do everyone a favor and get yourself some rest. It's a long journey to Winterfell and we have a long way to go." With that said, I stood up and went back to sitting outside of Lady Catelyn's tent.

Tyrion Lannister might've hated the fact that I didn't take the offer of gold, but he did stay quiet for the rest of the night.

* * *

All through the next day and night, we rode on. Lady Catelyn led the way, occasionally going from a hard gallop to a fast trot. I stayed close to her and Ser Rodrik kept close to Tyrion Lannister, making sure that the dwarf didn't fall off of his horse. Some time in the morning, it started to rain, soaking everyone to bone. On one of our very few stops, I overheard the three Frey men complaining about coming on this trip and how their father would be wondering where they were by now.

The woodlands of the riverlands morphed into stony roads and large boulders. As the road seemed to get steeper and steeper, trees became less and less and the grass turned rough and brown. The rain finally stopped as we got farther into the Vale, and it wasn't until we were surrounded by rock and mountains did Lady Catelyn give the word to take the Imp's hood off his head.

Tyrion Lannister looked around the barren terrain and I watched as his face turned from disgruntled and irritated to completely accusatory. He turned to Lady Catelyn. "You said we were going to Winterfell!"

"Often and loudly," Catelyn replied, giving Tyrion the faintest of smiles. "No doubt your friends will ride that way when they come after us. I wish them good speed."

As the days continued through the mountains of the Vale, Tyrion Lannister no longer had to wear the hood, and eventually his hands were cut free. There wasn't chance that he could run; the road was barely more than a stony track and if he had been alone out here the shadowcats would eat him for sure.

On our third day in the mountains, I was beginning to miss Winterfell again. My face was wind burnt and I was beginning to smell not only my own body odor, but everyone else's as well. I thought of Robb and Theon in Winterfell, and I wanted to know if Bran had woken up yet. I thought about Jon up at the Wall, and I hoped that my friend was doing okay in his training. I knew that Tyrion had gone to the Wall when his family had started south, so he must've seen Jon up there. I wanted to ask the dwarf how Jon seemed the last time he saw him, but I got the feeling that I was one of the last people Tyrion Lannister wanted to talk to.

We were starting to get close to the Eyrie, it was another hard day of riding until we got there, when Tyrion started to degrade Catelyn. "If you wanted me dead, Lady Stark, you had only to say the word and one of these staunch friends of yours would gladly give me the red smile." He gave Kurleket, one of Lord Bracken's men, a very pointed glance.

"The Starks do not murder men in their beds." Lady Catelyn said, barely looking over her shoulder to where Tyrion was riding.

"Nor do I." The Imp said. "I tell you again, I had no part in the attempt to kill your son."

"The assassin was armed with your dagger."

"Only a fool would arm a common footpad with his own blade!"

I hated the fact that his words were causing a flicker of doubt to flare inside of me. He was starting to make sense, but I didn't dare to say this to Lady Catelyn. But even she was starting to get that same flicker of doubt in her blue eyes.

We stopped a few hours later when the sun was in the center of the sky so that the weak horses could drink the icy mountain water from the stream. I pat Dust's neck as he drank deeply from the stream. My horse had never traveled this far from Winterfell and I could tell that he was getting weaker. I had no idea what I would do if my horse died on this journey through the mountains. I had been with this stallion for years; he was as much a part of me and who I was as my friendship with Robb and Jon and Theon was.

" _Riders!_ " Lady Whent's knight, Ser Willis, let out the cry from where he had been on lookout.

For a long moment, no one moved. But then Catelyn was the first to react. "Ser Rodrik, Ser Willis, to horse! Get the other mounts behind us. Mohor, guard ht prisoner-"

"Arm me!" Tyrion snapped. "You'll need every sword."

"I hear them!" Ser Rodrik called out. I turned my head to listen and heard it too. The sound of hoofs galloping towards us got louder, at least a dozen horses. Suddenly everyone was moving, reaching for weapons, running to their horses. I unsheathed the daggers at my lower back and thigh, arming each hand and planting myself right in front of Lady Catelyn as she found herself pressed into the boulder.

The mountain riders carried no heralds, no banners, no horns nor drums. Only the twang of bowstrings as they began to fire arrows upon us. The men Morrec and Lharys fired arrows right back at them. Mountain men wearing boiled leather and mismatched armor; they carried all kinds of mismatched weapons. I adjusted my grip on my daggers and steadied my fighting stance, ready for someone to try and attack Lady Catelyn.

Ser Rodrik shouted, "Winterfell!" and rode to meet the mountain riders, with the sellswords named Bronn and Chiggen. Ser Willis followed, crying out, "Harrenhal!"

A rider scrambled down the rock right above us and landed a few feet away from me. A moment later he was on his feet and his beady eyes landed on me. The mountain rider charged at me, raising an ax above his head and screaming out a wordless cry.

I ducked out of the way right as the ax dropped down, the rider putting all of his weight into the swing so he ended up doubling over. I took my opportunity and slashed a dagger down the rider's neck, slicing it open and bright red blood spurting out of his open neck. The rider fell to the ground, reaching up to press a hand against his neck wound. I slammed the second dagger down into the rider's back, right at the base of his neck. The rider fell to the ground for good this time.

"Helaena!" Lady Catlyn cried out right as an unknown hand tangled itself into my loose braid. I let out a loud shriek at the sudden pain coming from my head and I caught a glimpse of the unknown rider's long knife coming out of the corner of my sight.

I swung both hands back and I felt my left dagger plunge into his leg. The rider let out a cry of pain and the grip on my hair was gone. I turned around and kicked out at the rider's face. A spurt of blood came from the rider's nose and I raised my daggers to finish him off, but a horse thundered past the fight, accidentally stepping on the rider's face, completely crushing it. I blinked at the sudden mess of red and turned away from it to the rest of the battle.

Catelyn was surrounded by three riders, two on foot and one on horseback. From between them I could see her clutching a knife awkwardly in her maimed hands.

A sudden memory of Robb telling me to protect his mother came to me. I sprinted back to the rock where Catelyn was cowering and I drove both dagger into one rider's sides, going straight through his ribs and puncturing his internal organs. As the man howled in pain, I twisted both knives and managed to rip one out but the second got stuck and I lost it's handle from my grip. The rider turned around to face me, my dagger sticking out of his side.

"Stupid little bitch," The rider snarled, diving forward with his arms outstretched. I ducked once more as the man's weight started to fall on me. I drove my remaining dagger into the man's chest and neck and gut. I fell backwards with the rider's dead weight on top of me. I let out a cry as the man's weight fell completely on top of me and I landed hard onto my back.

The rider's hot blood spilled from his neck wound and onto my face. I kicked and wriggled my way out from under the dead rider just to see the last of the riders riding away. My first thought was of Lady Catelyn, and I hurried to her to see her standing, her knife bloody, and Tyrion Lannister with a very bloody shield. The other rider was dead between them and the rider on horseback was gone completely.

I retrieved my daggers from the dead rider and cleaned them off. Our party had taken quite a hit, with dead riders and knights dead around us. Those who had survived the attack were quickly bandaging their wounds. Lady Catelyn hurried to approach me by the stream's side.

"Are you hurt, Helaena? She asked me, taking in the blood all over my cheek, neck, and the top of my clothes. I gave myself a once over and shook my head.

"I don't think I am." I said. My back was what was hurt, seeing how I had been practically slammed into the rocky terrain. Catelyn nodded once and wet a spare cloth she had in her hand. There was a brief moment of hesitation before she soaked the cloth in the spring and she raised the wet cloth slightly, looking at me cautiously.

"May I?" She asked. I blinked before nodding. Lady Catelyn carefully cleaned the blood from my face and neck and I washed my hands, wrists, and arms of the blood. I had no idea that blood could get spread around so easily. Once I was clean, I looked at Catelyn's maimed fingers.

"Are those okay?" I asked. Catelyn nodded and stood; I followed suit.

After a few minutes of gathering ourselves, we started once more for the Eyrie. Ser Willis led the way, Bronn took the rear, with Lady Catelyn safely in the middle. Ser Rodrik and I rode with her, side by side. Marillion the minstrel was looking sullen; he had broken several ribs, his woodharp, and all four fingers on his playing hand. According to Tyrion Lannister, a horse had fallen on top of the singer.

"Lady Stark tells me that you fought bravely, Helaena." Ser Rodrik said as we descended down the craggy mountain. I looked over to the old knight, and I was pleased to see that he looked proud.

I thanked the old knight as the ominous sounds of shadowcats came from behind us. I looked over my shoulder to the ridge we had just left, the sounds of shadowcats yowling and fighting each other for the right to eat the dead bodies we had left behind.


	12. 12: Stone and Snow

"My lady, you should've sent word of your coming." Ser Donnel Waynwood told Lady Catelyn as our horses climbed the pass. "We would have sent an escort. The high road is not as safe as it once was, for a party as small as yours."

"We learned that to our sorrow, Ser Donnel." Lady Catelyn replied from where she rode beside the knight of the Vale. I followed a little ways behind, the sellsword named Bronn riding beside me. We had rode through the mountains for another three days before the knights of the Vale had come back, and in that time three more men had died either fighting the mountain men, or when their wounds started to fester.

Ser Donnel snorted loud enough to be heard from where I was riding. "The clans have grown bolder since Lord Jon died. If it were up to me, I would take a hundred men into the mountains, root them out of their fastnesses, and teach them some sharp lessons, but your sister has forbidden it. She would not even permit her knights to fight in the Hand's tourney. She wants all our swords kept close to home, to defend the Vale...against what, no one is certain. Shadows, some say." He paused. "I hope I have not spoken out of turn, my lady. I meant no offense."

When I heard the young knight's plan to root out the mountain clans, I fought against the urge to roll my eyes. He spoke like a highborn man; no doubt he had been brought up close to the Arryn family and had been trained as a knight from a young age. Those mountain riders had all grown up wild out here in the barren terrain; this land seemed to belong to them more than knights like Ser Donnel. He would never be able to get to the clans' strongholds like he wanted: he was more likely to lead men to their deaths by trying.

As for what he said about Lady Lysa, I had no idea if he was speaking true or not. We were about to find out though, that was for sure.

"When we reach your keep, I would take it kindly if you could send for Maester Colemon at once." Lady Catelyn said, glancing over her shoulder to where Ser Rodrik rode behind her. The old knight had suffered a terrible wound during the second attack of the mountain clansmen, and we had had to tie him to his saddle to keep him from falling off his horse.

But Ser Donnel shook his head wearily. "The Lady Lysa has commanded the maester to remain at the Eyrie at all times, to care for Lord Robin. We have a septon at the gate who tends to our wounded. He can see to your man's hurts."

Our much larger traveling party rounded a corner of the mountains and I spotted the battlements ahead, long parapets built into the very stone of the mountains on either side of them. Twin watchtowers clung to the rocky slopes, joined by a covered bridge of weathered gray stone that arched above the road. When I looked up at the battlements, I saw silent faces looking down at our party.

The gates opened and we rode through, the large group suddenly silent. Even Tyrion Lannister and Bronn, who had grown close during the journey, were silent as we passed through the Bloody Gate to get to the Eyrie.

The valley that was the Vale of Arryn stretched before us to the misty east. A land with black soil, wide slow-moving rivers, and hundreds of small lakes that shone like mirrors in the sun, protected on all sides by the towering mountain peaks. Wheat, corn, and barley grew high in the fields. And there, far in the northern corner of the mountains, was the Eyrie itself.

I had heard the rumors of how the Eyrie was impregnable, and I could see how. The castle itself rested at the very top of the mountain, with parapets that went up so high it looked like they were stabbing the sky itself. A gust of wind came and blew my hair off my shoulders and I shivered slightly from the icy cold wind.

"You'll make it to the mountain by nightfall." Ser Donnel said. "But the climb will take another day."

"My lady," Ser Rodrik spoke up weakly. "I fear I can go no further today." The old knight looked so weary I half expected him to fall off his horse.

Lady Catelyn allowed Ser Rodrik to stay behind, along with the other men who were too injured to continue on today. In the end, the ones continuing to the Eyrie were Lady Catelyn, Tyrion Lannister, Bronn, Marillion the singer, Ser Willis, and myself. We left our horses at the Bloody Gate, to rest and recover from the rough rode they had just encountered. I said a goodbye to Dust before hurrying after Catelyn.

By nightfall, we finally made it to the Moon Gate. According to Lady Catelyn, we were to stay the night here and then continue up the mountain to the Eyrie itself in the morning. When I listened to Ser Donnel talk about the trek up that mountain, I wanted to turn right back around and leave the mountain range.

We would be riding mules tomorrow morning, because only they could find the tiny footsteps carved into the mountain side.

Lord Nestor Royce came out to meet our party. He gave a clumsy bow to Catelyn. "Lady Stark," He said in a deep voice that sounded like it came from his gut. "I have received word from Lady Lysa. She wants you up there tonight. The rest of your party will stay here for the night."

"What?" Ser Donnel asked sharply. "A night ascent, with the moon not even full? Even Lady Lysa should know-"

"That it's not your order to question," Lord Nestor cut the young knight off.

"The mules know the way, Ser Donnel," A wiry girl of nineteen or twenty years stepped up beside Lord Nestor. Her dark black hair was cropped short and straight around her head, and she wore riding leathers and a light shirt made of ringmail. I couldn't help myself but stare hard at her; she looked just like Robert Baratheon. I briefly remembered overhearing a rumor about another one of the king's bastards living in the Vale...

I gave myself a mental shake. Just because she looked like King Robert, didn't mean she was his bastard daughter. For all I knew, she was a girl with a house name or no name at all.

The girl bowed to Lady Catelyn much more gracefully than her lord. "I promise you, my lady, no harm will come to you. It would be my honor to take you up. I've made a dark climb a hundred times before. Mychel says my father must've been a goat."

"Do you have a name, child?" Catelyn asked.

"Mya Stone, if it please you, my lady."

Judging by the way Catelyn's mouth tightened and turned into a line, it didn't please her. It had taken this trip for Catelyn Stark to open up to me and to accept me as a person and not a bastard, so I could instantly tell that this girl was reminding Catelyn of Jon Snow, where he was at the Wall.

Lord Nestor filled the silence. "Mya's a clever girl, and if she vows she will bring you safely to the Lady Lysa, I believe her. She has not failed me yet."

Lady Catelyn nodded once and turned back to look at me. "I'll be needing Helaena to come with me. She made a vow to my son to keep me safe, and she's stubborn enough to stick to it. Wherever I go, she'll have to come as well." The lord looked like he wanted to argue at first, but he grunted in agreement.

Mya Stone finally looked to me and she frowned deeply, a dimple forming right between her bushy black eyebrows. I realized with a jolt that it was the same dimple I got whenever I frowned that badly, and I resisted the urge to frown just to show her that we matched in a way. Mya and I held each other's gazes, her blue eyes a darker shade than mine. We stared at each for a long moment before Mya blinked rapidly and broke off our stare, walking away to go fetch the mules.

Catelyn and I followed Mya soon after that and we found three mules, saddled and ready. Mya helped Catelyn onto hers and I managed to get on mine myself. Mya blinked at me and I could've sworn I saw her smile to herself, but I wasn't sure. The final gate was opened and Mya began to lead the three mules through the gate and into the pine forest. The mountain beyond the forest was nothing more than a black wall. But I could see the steps chiseled into the mountain side.

"Some people find it easier if they close their eyes," Mya said as mounted her mule and started to lead the way. "When they get frightened or dizzy, some times they hold onto the mule too tight. They don't like that."

"I was born a Tully and wed to a Stark," Catelyn said firmly. "I do not frighten easily. Do you plan to light a torch?"

Mya made a face. "Torches blind you. On a clear night like this, the moon and the stars are enough. Mychel says I have the eyes of the owl." She nudged her mule and mine and Catelyn's started to follow on their own accord.

"You mentioned Mychel before," I pointed out. The mules sent out a slow but steady pace. "Who is he?"

"Mychel's my love," Mya said. "Mychel Redfort. He's squire to Ser Lyn Corbray. We're to wed as soon as he become a knight, next years or the year after that."

She reminded me so much of Sansa in that moment, I couldn't help but shake my head. The Redforts were an old name, I knew that from my lessons with Septa Mordane and Maester Luwin. His love she might be, but no Redfort would ever wed a bastard. His family would arrange a more suitable match for him, to a Corbray or a Waynwood or a Royce, or even the daughter of some greater house outside the Vale.

That was the sad life of us bastards; it didn't matter who we loved or even if they loved us back, if they came from a high house, there was no hope for the relationship.

As we got higher and higher, I found the comfort in closing my eyes as Mya had suggested. My mule's body rocked slightly back and forth, making the movements feel as if I were sitting in the ocean instead of the back of a mule. But the mules themselves were surefooted and tireless, and Mya Stone seemed blessed with night eyes. We plodded onward, winding our way back and forth across the face of the mountain as the steps twisted and turned upward.

The higher we went, the steeper the slope became, the steps became more worn, here and there were broken pebbles. I could feel the altitude up here. The wind blew more vigorously, sharp gusts that tugged at my clothes and pushed my hair into my eyes. I could now see why the Eyrie had never been taken by enemies.

Dawn was beginning to break in the east as we finally made it to the top of the mountain to the Eyrie. I looked up and saw, directly overhead, pale in the dawn light, the foundations of the Eyrie. I let out a loud sigh of relief which caused Mya Stone to turn and smile encouragingly at me. I forced myself to smile back, feeling dizzy and pummeled by the wind.

First light had broken over the valley when we finally reached the top of the mountain, and a handful of knights of the Eyrie greeted us. The one leading them introduced himself as Ser Vardis Egen. "Lady Stark, the pleasure is as great as it is unanticipated. I have sent word to your sister. She left orders to be awakened the instant you arrived."

"I hope she had a good night's rest," Catelyn said with a certain bite that caused me to snort out in amusement. The knight turned to me and glared at me.

"Who is this?" He asked, the hostility in his voice unmistakable.

"This is Helaena Snow," Catelyn told the knights, and Mya, who was listening as she pat the three mules. "She has assisted me greatly on this journey and I intend on keeping her by my side."

"If you insist, Lady Stark." Ser Vardis said, giving me a final dark look. "I will take you to her now." With that, he turned and started to lead the way into the Eyrie. Catelyn started to follow him immediately. I turned and gave Mya Stone a deep nod and smile.

"I hope you and Mychel work out, Mya," I said. Mya Stone smiled back at me and returned the deep nod.

"I hope so, too," She said. I gave the older girl one last nod before turning tail and hurrying after Catelyn and Ser Vardis.


	13. 13: Trial by Combat

Lady Lysa Arryn was waiting in a sort of throne room. The chamber was perfectly round with a very high ceiling that had a spiral staircase with doors that led to different rooms of the castle. For a moment, I was confused by her age. Lady Catelyn had said that Lady Lysa was two years younger than her, but the woman sitting on the massive wooden throne looked to be five years older. Lysa Arryn was shrunken with watery blue eyes that kept flitting around the room. Her long and thick auburn hair was the only thing I could see linking the two sisters together as sisters.

Lysa Arryn was still wearing her nightgown as Catelyn and I approached. She swept her long auburn hair over one shoulder and her watery blue eyes landed on Catelyn first, and then to me. Before I could decide if she didn't like me or not, her eyes were back on Catelyn and her scrawny face broke into a smile that looked forced.

"Cat!" She exclaimed. "It's been how long? Five years? It's been too long, sister."

"You look well," Catelyn replied, giving her younger sister a nod of greeting. "But also tired."

Lysa's face twitched for a moment. "Tired. Yes." She looked back to me and frowned. "Who is this? She looks like the bastard with the mules."

I looked away from Lysa just to glance at Catelyn, who glanced back at me for a moment before speaking to her sister. "This is Helaena Snow. She is apart of my escort from Winterfell. She is acting on the orders of my son to keep me safe."

"A bastard," Lysa said blankly. I had no idea if she said it bitterly or if she was just echoing what Catelyn had said. I held the lady's gaze for a long moment before she broke it off and nodded to the double doors behind me and Catelyn. "Leave us, bastard. I wish to speak to my sister alone."

Catelyn looked to me and nodded once, giving me the real permission I needed to leave the room. I nodded once back to her and turned my back on Lady Lysa, exiting the great hall and stepped into a sort of hallway. The hall outside of the great hall made a loop around the castle, with one side of the hallway completely open to the mountain side. I stared out at the view once more, taking in the valley far below.

It struck me how terrible the descent would be.

The sounds of yelling came from the great hall behind me and I looked over at shoulder at the closed set of doors. I couldn't make out what was being said, but I could tell that the argument was getting heated.

A few minutes later, Catelyn emerged from the great hall, looking angry and flustered. I went to her immediately and forgot my place. "What happened in there? I heard you two yelling at each other."

I half expected Catelyn to snap at me to not ask questions. But she heaved an angry sigh and shook her head. "Lysa refuses to see reason and try to fight against the Lannisters."

"Fight?" I asked. "D'you really think it'll come to that?"

Catelyn met my eyes and seemed to deflate slightly. "By now the Lannisters must've heard about my taking Tyrion. I am loathe to admit it, but Tyrion Lannister has a point. And that is his father and brother would go to war to get him back."

* * *

Catelyn and I were given rooms. Her room was much more luxurious than mine, but Lysa had been planning on making me sleep in the lowest quarters she could find, but Catelyn had intervened so now I just had a small and cramped room right above the sky cells.

Tyrion Lannister had been put into those sky cells the moment he had made the journey up the mountain. The men who had accompanied us on our travels through the Vale were given rooms similar to mine, so that they could stay in slight comfort as a part of their payment for coming all this way.

That night, I ate dinner with Ser Willis, Bronn the sellsword, and several other knights of the Vale. Catelyn ate her dinner with Lady Lysa and Lord Robin. I couldn't say that I envied her, considering how close-minded her sister seemed to be and how her nephew apparently still suckled at his mother's breast despite being eight years old.

Ser Donnel, who had brought us to Mya the night before, spilled the gossip as soon as he had enough wine in him. "Lady Lysa, seven bless her, she _means_ well, but her way of keeping her son safe is to lock him away here so that no one can ever see him. She hasn't been right ever since Lord Jon died; and even before that she was always a tad off. Three stillborn children and four miscarriages will do that to a woman, I suppose."

I had exchanged a look with Ser Willis at this. Lady Whent's knight didn't say anything, just raised his eyebrows at me and continued stuffing his face full of chicken that had been marinated in whiskey and fruit.

The next morning, I woke completely wrapped in blankets and furs. It looked like some time during my sleep, I had wrapped myself into a cocoon of blankets from my bed. I hesitated leaving my bed, it was too cold here and I wanted to stay in here for a while longer. Another pang for Winterfell hit my heart and I missed my own room back home, where the natural hot springs underneath the castle kept the walls and rooms warm.

I had managed to dress myself when a thundering knock came to my door. I blinked, jumping for a moment to put my last boot on my foot before answering. Ser Willis stood there, panting slightly. "The Imp is going to confess his crimes, Snow. Lady Stark demands your presence."

Ser Willis led me right to the great hall again. The lords and ladies of the Vale's court stood in the circular room. I spotted Bronn leaning against a pillar. Marillion the singer was sitting on a bench with two ladies on either side of him. Despite his injuries, he looked happy to be there. Ser Willis led me past them and up the stairs until we both stood at the top. Lady Catelyn was a few feet away, and she nodded at me, telling me to stay where I was.

Lady Lysa and Lord Robin were sitting on that massive throne, looking down on Tyrion, who stood in the middle of the hall. I hadn't been able to see him before. The dwarf wasn't looking good, even though he had been in the sky cell for only a day. But then again, I had seen the sky cells, how they opened to nothing but the harsh fall down the mountain.

"You wish to confess your crimes, Lannister?" Lady Lysa asked, wasting no time.

"I do, my lady," Tyrion answered. Ser Willis glanced at me but I kept my eyes locked onto the dwarf.

Lysa smiled and gave Catelyn a pointed look. "The sky cells always break. The gods see them there, and there is no darkness to hide in. Say what you will, Imp."

Tyrion Lannister didn't look broken to me. Tired and disheveled by wind, yes, but broken, no. A hush went over the court as Tyrion Lannister began to speak. "Where to begin? I'm a vile little man, I confess. My crimes are beyond count. I have lain with whores, I have gambled and I have not always treated my servants kindly. One time I stuffed my uncle's boots with goat shit. When confronted with my crime I blamed a squire; poor boy was flogged.

"Another time I stole the clothes of a servant girl, who was bathing in the river. She had to return to the castle naked. If I close my eyes, I can still see her tits bouncing." That earned Tyrion a small huff of laughter. He continued. "Once, I skinned my sausage," The crowd either gasped in horror or chuckled with laughter. "I flogged the one-eyed snake, into a bowl of turtle stew." Tyrion made an obscene gesture with his hands, causing more laughter and gasps. I exchanged a glance with Catelyn, who looked like she was losing control of her prisoner. "I made the bald man cry, into the turtle stew! Which I do believe my sister ate; at least I hope she did. I once brought a jackass and a honeycomb into a brothel-"

" _Silence!_ " Lysa interrupted Tyrion before he got to the good part of that joke.

"What happened next?" Robin Arryn asked, leaning forward and looking very interested. I tried to remember the ending of the joke while Lysa questioned Tyrion on what he was doing exactly.

Tyrion blinked up at her. "Why I'm confessing to my crimes, of course."

Catelyn took a step forward. "Tyrion Lannister, you are accused of sending a hired knife to slay my son Bran in his bed, and of conspiring to murder Lord Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King."

"Oh, but I can't confess to those crimes, seeing as I didn't do those things."

Lysa stood up from her throne. "I will not be made a fool, Imp. You've had your joke; I hope it was worth it. Ser Vardis, take him back to the dungeon. But this time, find him a smaller cell, with a steeper floor."

"Is _this_ how justice is done in the Vale?" Tyrion shouted, turning and glaring at the various lords and ladies of the Vale. "Does honor stop at the Bloody Gate? You accuse me of crimes, I deny them, so you throw me into an open cell to freeze and starve. Where is the king's justice? I stand accused, you say. Very well. I demand a trial."

I looked to Lysa to see what'd she do now. He was a part one arguably the most powerful house in Westeros; she couldn't deny him a trial. But Lysa just smiled cruelly and said, "Very well. If you are tried and found guilty, you must pay with your own life. We keep no executioner here in the Eyrie; life is more civilized here. Open the Moon Door."

The second she said those words, Lord Robin started giggling and clapping hurriedly. I blinked at the little lord as two men lifted a lever on the far side of the room and the small circular wooden door in the center of the floor opened wide, revealing nothing but blue and the green and gray of the ground miles and miles below us.

"You want a trial, my lord of Lannister." Lysa said with that cruel smile as her son giggled himself silly. "My son will listen to whatever you care to say, and you shall hear his judgement. Then you will leave, through one door or the other." She looked so pleased with herself.

"I see no trouble to bother Lord Robin," Tyrion said, his own small smile spreading across his face. "The gods know the truth of my innocence. I will have their verdict, not the judgement of men. I demand a trial by combat."

A low murmuring filled the room along with a few open bouts of laughter. Ser Willis chuckled beside me and Marillion plucked a note on his new woodharp with one of his broken fingers. Even the wind seemed to whistle in amusement through the Moon Door.

"My lady!" A young knight with a green viper embroidered onto his surcoat stepped forward. "I beg the right to become your champion."

"The honor should be mine," One of the older lords said. "For the love I bore your husband, let me avenge his death."

"My father served Lord Jon faithfully as his high steward," A knight I recognized from the Bloody Gate took a large step forward, blocking Bronn from my view. "Let me serve his son in this."

A dozen men all spoke at once. I looked down at Tyrion, wondering if he found it disheartening that so many men were eager to kill him.

Lysa raised her hand for silence. "Ser Vardis, you've been quiet."

The knight took a knee towards Lysa and Robin. "Forgive me, my lady. The man is no warrior. Half my size and lame in the legs. It would be shameful to slaughter a man and call it justice."

Tyrion nodded and looked up to Lysa. "I agree."

"You demanded a trail by combat." Lysa snapped.

"And now I demand a champion. I have that right, same as you. I choose my brother, Ser Jaime Lannister as my champion."

"Your brother is hundreds of leagues away from here."

"Send a bird for him. I will gladly wait."

"The trail will happen _today_." Lysa said, looking like she had won again. "Name your champion, Imp, if you think you can find a man to die for you."

"I'd sooner find a man to kill for me," Tyrion said, looking over the room. For a moment, no one moved. But then there was a sudden movement and I tightened my jaw at the sight of Bronn.

"I'll stand for the dwarf." Bronn announced.

"Oh gods," I muttered to myself.

It took several minutes for Ser Vardis to get into his armor, complete with sword and shield. Bronn, however, didn't change into armor; he just took his sword and refused a shield. Catelyn took this time before the fight to hurry over to where Ser Rodrik had joined me on the stairs.

"The dwarf has played my sister like a set of pipes, and she is too deaf to hear the tune." Catelyn whispered fiercely to me and Ser Rodrik. "Whatever happens at the end of this fight, it is past time we take our leave. Ser Rodrik, if you are strong enough to travel, I shall ask Lysa for an escort to see us to Gulltown. We can take a ship from there."

"That sounds like a lovely idea," I said immediately. Catelyn forced a smile at my comment and went back to her spot by Lysa and Robin's throne. The fight was starting to begin. I found myself gripping the thick stone railing that looped around the room. Catelyn looked worried; Lysa looked smug; and little Lord Robin jumped out of his throne, fumbling a little bit, screaming, " _Fight!_ "

Ser Vardis charged at Bronn, his shield up and protecting his whole body. When Ser Vardis swung his sword, Bronn dodged it easily. Their swords came together twice, ringing loudly throughout the great hall. The ringing made my ears ache, but still I watched the fight as intently as if it were my own trial by combat. The knight pursued the sellsword, he tried to slash but Bronn backed up and the sword just slashed air. The knight moved carefully, moving his feet as they were weighed down by his large amount of armor. Ser Vardis kept slashing and diving at Bronn, but the sellsword was jumping and leaping out of reach, graceful as a panther.

As one of the Vale's lords shouted about how Bronn was craven by avoiding the fight, I couldn't help but disagree and admire Bronn's fighting style. His opponent was wearing a shit ton of armor, which weighed him down easily. By avoiding the sword and keeping himself just out of reach, he was succeeding in making the knight chase him. Ser Vardis would be tiring out soon enough.

Ser Vardis was still coming hard onto Bronn, but he was getting slower. He was getting tired. I swallowed hard as Bronn ducked to the side and his sword took a hefty chunk out of the knight's armor, and I caught the tiniest bit of blood.

Bronn suddenly struck out. Ser Vardis blocked, but clumsily. Bronn's blade flashed upward and landed hard on Ser Vardis's head. Metal rang and the ringmail protecting the knight's head was crushed. The two men were standing right at the edge of the Moon Door. Bronn ducked underneath one of Ser Vardis's swinging arms, still trying to fight despite the horrible blow to his head. I sucked in my breath as Bronn gave the older man a great shove, and Ser Vardis went tumbling through the Moon Door, a scream flying up at us from below.


	14. 14: March to War

We took our leave right after the trial, all three of us eager to get out of the Eyrie. We separated from Ser Willis and Marillion, Catelyn pausing long enough to thank them for accompanying us. "It was a pleasure, Lady Stark," Ser Willis told her. "I will be on my way back to Lady Whent soon after you."

We had left Winterfell almost two months ago. I was missing my home more and more with every passing day, and the stay here in the Eyrie wasn't helping. It wasn't until Maester Coleman came to Catelyn mere minutes before we left with a raven's note, did Catelyn snap at me and Ser Rodrik to wait while she spoke to her sister. I had blinked after her but did what she said anyway.

Lysa didn't see us off as we climbed onto the backs of the mules minutes later. Mya Stone greeted me in particular with a lot of warmth, to which I reciprocated as much as I could. Ser Rodrik tried to get Catelyn to say why we were leaving in such a rush, but Catelyn promised that she'd tell us once we were settled in the stronghold of the Moon Gate or the Bloody Gate. She wanted as much ground between us and the Eyrie as possible before telling us.

The descent down the mountain was awful. I closed my eyes tightly until we finally reached the bottom.

Mya led us to the Moon Gate around sundown. For a moment I thought we were going to stop and rest here for the night, but Catelyn wanted to make it to the Bloody Gate. Right before we were supposed to move to the next gate, Mya stopped me, looking awkward and out of place.

"Well, I guess what I want to say is, good luck to you, Helaena Snow." Mya finally decided on.

I smiled at the older girl. "Good luck to you too, Mya Stone. I really hope that Mychel treats you well." Mya smiled brightly at that and we left the Moon Gate with Mya waving goodbye. I waved goodbye as well and finally turned my back on the girl who was more than likely my half sister.

It was dark by the time we made it to the Bloody Gate, and we all settled into the stronghold for the night. It was there that Catelyn finally told me and Ser Rodrik the news.

"Helaena, I don't know how to tell you." Catelyn started quietly. I felt my stomach seize up as Catelyn looked to me with sadness. "A raven came a few days ago without us knowing. King Robert is dead."

I blinked, my mouth opening and closing on its own accord. I finally looked up at Catelyn. "How?" I asked, my voice sounding tighter than usual.

"Killed in a hunting accident." Catelyn said, lowering her head for me. "I'm so sorry, Helaena."

I had no idea how to even process this news. King Robert and I had never been close; we barely knew each other. But he had been my father, the man who I looked just like. I gripped my knees with my hands and heaved a sigh as Ser Rodrik gently patted my shoulder.

"Is there more?" I asked, my voice cracking.

Catelyn blinked at me and sighed. "Ned has been branded a traitor and he's been arrested by the new king, Joffrey."

Ser Rodrik cursed softly under his breath before apologizing to Catelyn for cursing in front of her. I doubled over and buried my face in my hands. First Robert, now Ned...

"What will become of him?" I asked.

Catelyn shook her head. She looked scared for her husband, and I couldn't blame her. What about Sansa and Arya? There hadn't been any news of them. That night, I didn't get much sleep; it was mostly spent tossing and turning in my bed, thinking of Ned rotting in a dungeon cell and Robert...my father was dead.

It wasn't like Robert and I had been close, or even had a relationship resembling a father and daughter relationship. But I had grown up knowing he was my father, that he was the one I resembled, the one who shared a lot of my personal traits from my skill at hunting to my taste for wine.

And now he was dead and gone, taking away any chance I had of ever truly knowing him.

At dawn the next morning, we received an escort from the Bloody Gate to the gate by the sea. It took most of the day to get to the ocean side, a journey consisting of more mountains and rocks, but more trees grew on this side of the Vale, and the ocean was spread wide before us as a gust of salty wind nearly knocked me off my feet.

The ship was waiting for us in the harbor, and it set sail as the sun started to set. Ser Rodrik stayed up all night on deck, leaning over the side and occasionally emptying the contents of his stomach into the sea. I found myself a nice corner of the deck and laid down on top of a thin blanket given to me by the first mate. As the sky darkened and turned to black speckled with silver and white stars, I thought back to Robert Baratheon, how he had once told me that we'd always be under the same sky.

My eyes started burning and my jaw began quivering violently when I realized that that wasn't the case anymore.

We traveled by sea for two days before we reached the White Harbor. We were in Northern territory now, and I practically wanted to fling myself into the first patch of snow I could find and roll around in it for a while. But we were still pretty south, so there wasn't a lot of snow down here. It was here that we heard about Robb Stark leading a host to war.

"He's doing _what_?" Catelyn asked the Manderly knight who had come out to receive us from the bay.

"Lord Stark let out the call a few days ago, my lady," The knight reported. "Once the young lord heard about his father's arrest he sent out ravens to all of the Stark bannermen. Lord Manderly's sons will be heading towards the host in the morning.

"May I see your Lord Manderly?" Catelyn asked. The knight nodded and Catelyn turned to Ser Rodrik. "Ser, I am loathe to say this, but you must continue onto Winterfell without us. I hereby name you castellan of Winterfell to help Maester Luwin take care of my sons. The maester is an intelligent man, but he is not skilled in the art of warfare."

Ser Rodrik looked like he wanted to disagree with Catelyn, but he nodded gravely anyway. He told us both goodbye and got back on the ship heading north, much to his displeasure. As soon as Catelyn saw the old knight board the ship, she turned to me. "Helaena, it is past time we go and see my son."

I nodded at that. "Yes, my lady."

* * *

The morning mist blurred the sigils of the banners, so I couldn't exactly see who was here to support Robb. Catelyn and I rode beside each other with Lord Manderly's two sons, both of whom were older than Catelyn herself. Ser Wylis, the oldest, was a few eels away from not being able to ride his horse. Ser Wendel, the younger one, would have been the fattest man I had ever known if I hadn't already met his father and brother. Wylis was quiet and formal, only called me by the name Snow. Wendel was loud and boisterous, went back and forth with calling me Snow and bastard. Both had large walrus mustaches and heads are bare as a baby's. But I liked them well enough; they had promised to get Catelyn and I to Robb.

Outriders spotted the Manderly flags and banners-the white merman with trident in hand, rising from the blue green sea-and hailed us down warmly. We were then led to a spot of high ground dry enough for camp. Ser Wylis called a halt and remained with his men to see the fires lit and horses tended, while the younger Ser Wendel rode on with Catelyn and I to pay his father's respects to his liege lord.

The ground under our horses' hooves was soft and muddy from hundreds and horses and people walking over it countless times a day. We passed by smoky fire pits, lines of horses, and wagons filed with hardbread and salt beef. Now that we were up close, I could see the different banners surrounding us. I spotted the sunburst of Karstark, the chains of Umber, the flayed man of Bolton, the bear of Mormont, and of course, the direwolf of Stark.

There was a massive tent near the center of camp, where the Stark banner hung high. Catelyn made a bee line for it, leaving Ser Wendel and I to follow. As we got close enough to dismount, I spotted several familiar faces from Winterfell. The knights I knew from home saw me and Catelyn and they smiled and bowed to Catelyn.

Robb was sitting at the head of the table, surrounded by Ned Stark's bannermen. I recognized the Greatjon Umber simply because the large man had been at Winterfell years before. The ornery looking woman sitting near the entrance of the tent had to be Maege Mormont. There was one man with a long white beard who must've been Rickard Karstark, and the pale and thin man had to be Roose Bolton. Theon Greyjoy was also there, sitting beside Robb.

One by one the lords of the North looked up as Catelyn and I entered the room, until finally Robb looked up and saw Catelyn standing there. "Mother?" He said, his voice sounding thick with emotion.

Grey Wind the direwolf sat up from where he had been laying on the floor. The direwolf had grown an awful lot in the two months I had been away from home, and he was much larger than an average wolf.

"Lady Catelyn," The Greatjon exclaimed, his voice booming. He gave me a deep nod. "My condolences go to your father, Snow." I nodded back to the Greatjon as he turned back to Catelyn. I spotted Roose Bolton staring me down the moment the Greatjon called me bastard, but I didn't meet the lord's eyes. Something about him made my skin want to crawl. Greatjon continued to Catelyn, "We didn't expect to see you here."

"I did not expect to be here," Catelyn said. "I hate to interrupt your meeting, my lords, but I wish for a moment to speak to my son alone."

"You heard the lady!" The Greatjon yelled at the other lords. The large man led the way out of the tent, followed closely by Maege Mormont, Karstark, Bolton, and all the rest of them. Theon came right up to me with a large grin on his face. I couldn't help but smile back at my friend as he clapped me on the shoulder and we left the tent together.

"Lady Snow," Theon said, rubbing my shoulder blades as we walked away from the tent. "How was the capital?"

"It stunk like shit and we were only there for a day." I replied, causing Theon to laugh. "It was the road and the Vale we spent most of our time in. How was Winterfell while I was away?"

"Didn't feel like Winterfell without you there, Lady Snow." Theon said, giving my shoulder one last slap before dropping his arm entirely. "And now here we are, marching to ware against those Lannister shits. We heard a rumor that Lady Stark had the Imp as hostage. Where's he at?"

I heaved a sigh as we started towards the nearest and least occupied pit fire. "Thanks to Lady Arryn, we lost the dwarf. She played right into his mind games and he got away because of it."

Theon cursed. There was a moment of silence between us while we warmed ourselves by the pit fire. Several Stark soldiers were among us, but they were mostly sharpening their blades or sparring each other.

"I'm sorry about your father, Laena." Theon told me, not meeting my eyes. "I know how much you wanted to know him."

I didn't look up from the fire and kept my eyes locked onto the dancing flames. "It's fine, Theon, really. King Robert and I...if we weren't getting to know each other now, then we weren't going to anytime soon. Can we not talk about him, please?"

"Whatever you want, Lady Snow." Theon replied. I nodded jerkily at Theon, grateful for his willingness to drop the subject. Theon gave me a glance or two, out of the corner of his eye. But he didn't say anything for quite a while, and when he did it was about how he was looking forward to killing Lannister soldiers. I smiled at that and went along with it, momentarily grateful for Theon being my friend.


	15. 15: Offense and Defense

"You can't hope to last in battle without a sword," Dacey Mormont said. "Your knives are all well and good, Snow, but you'll last a mere minute in battle with them alone."

"She's right, Snow," Smalljon Umber agreed, standing somewhere behind Dacey and watching the events in front of him with amusement. I gave him a narrowed glare and straightened myself until I was at full height again.

I raised the blunted sword again the way Dacey had been showing me. "Again, Mormont." I said. The older woman smiled wryly at me and raised her own blunted sword. We had swiped the swords from a pair of newly made squires to practice.

The moment I had met Dacey Mormont, I had been both very impressed by her height and how she was a fully fledged warrior, and then very overwhelmed by those same things. The heir to Bear Island was well over six feet tall, lean and muscular, and she carried a broadsword at her hip. Dacey had shaken my hand with an amazing amount of strength, and then she became very interested in the two daggers I kept visible.

"Do you know how to spare with swords?" Dacey had then asked. "I would love to compare our skills."

I had managed to twitch a smile up at her. "Sorry to disappoint you, Lady Mormont. I'm not the best when it comes to sword fighting."

Dacey had frowned deeply at that. "Well that won't do if you're going to fight alongside us against the Lannisters. Come, Snow."

And after that, we had taken the blunt edged sword from those squires from the house Hornwood and found a clearing at the edge of camp to try and practice. Along the way we had come across Smalljon Umber and Daryn Hornwood. The two men had decided to come along and watch.

"Keep your legs closer together, Snow!" Daryn Hornwood called out from where he was standing with Smalljon. "She's going to trip you if you keep your legs that far apart."

"She's going to be off balance if her legs are too close together, Hornwood." Smalljon pointed out.

Dacey lashed out with the blunted sword, and I barely managed to block the blow. Dacey retracted back for a brief moment before lunging again from a lower angle. I took two steps back and blocked this blow as well, this time more steadily. "Good block." Dacey muttered right before pressing forward and swinging again, this time aiming for my head. I raised the sword and blocked the blow that would've taken my skull off if these swords had been real. Dacey held that position for a while, pressing hard with her sword and I struggled to keep either of the swords from touching my face-

I ducked down quickly, releasing the pressure from my arms and shoulders as Dacey's sword swung over my head. I launched myself back up, driving the tip of my blunted sword up until the end poked into Dacey's armored gut. The woman warrior smiled broadly at me and backed up as I straightened.

"You're not too bad, Snow." Dacey Mormont observed. "A little rusty when it comes to offensive attacking but you're just fine when it comes to defensive movements." She turned back to Smalljon and Daryn. "Anything to add, my lords?"

Smalljon and Daryn approached us from where they were standing. Daryn nodded at me. "I've got nothing to add, Lady Mormont. She needs more work with being offensive, but if anyone comes after her she'll be able to fend them off."

"If we're going to fight against the Lannisters, you're going to have to be stronger," Smalljon pointed out.

"We still have miles between us and the Lannisters," I added. "There's still more time to spar more." I looked up from Smalljon to Dacey. "Right?"

Dacey smiled at me and nodded deeply. "Of course, Snow. We'll turn you into a brutal warrior by the time we meet those yellow haired shits in the field."

I smiled back at her for that. Dacey took a step back and raised her blunted sword. "Come now, Snow. Let's make a warrior out of you."

Dacey and I continued sparring for most of the day. Like she and the other men had said, I was pretty decent at acting defensive. But when it came to lashing out and trying to attack first, I just ended up getting slapped around by the flat edge of the practice sword. By the end of the day, I was covered in bruises from Dacey's sword, and Smalljon and Daryn had laughed themselves silly.

"Ignore them, Snow," Dacey said, reaching out and helping me to my feet after she knocked me down for the ninth time in a row. The tall woman dusted me off. "You're doing just fine, Snow. We'll iron you out the end of war."

The sword fighting lesson was postponed after that, Robb wanted the army to move south. There were two Lannisters army heading north; one belonged to the Kingslayer, and the other was being led by Tywin Lannister. As we started to march south, I rode either with Lady Catelyn, Theon, or Robb. And as I rode with him, the more of Ned Stark I saw in him.

Ned used to always have a member of the Stark household sit with him during dinner. The lord would talk to stewards, stable boys, anyone who lived in the castle. It let him know who was serving him, and he always listened to what they had to say and he took everything they had told him to heart. And now Robb was riding beside a new lord every day the farther south we went.

We traveled down road as the scenery got greener and the weather started to get colder. I could now see my breath at any moment during the day. It seemed that the long summer was finally starting to end. Rumors had it that a long summer meant an even longer winter. I had been very young during the last winter, and I couldn't recall anything from it. Except for the fact that I had played a hiding game with Jon, Robb, and Theon.

Theon had recently come to live with us, and he was still very shy around us. Then, one winter's day, Robb had wanted to play the hiding game. We would all hide and Robb would go first in seeking us out, because it had been his idea. Theon had run off to the godswood to hide in the trees somewhere. I had fought my way through the snow, trying my hardest not to make a trail, just to get into the crypts of Winterfell.

I had made it into the crypts, had gone the extra mile to hide behind the statue and grave of Rickard Stark, when I had heard footsteps coming after me. I remembered pressing my back hard against the stone back of Rickard Stark, trying to blend into the darkness of the crypts, when none other than Jon Snow came walking down the center of the crypt.

"Laena?" Jon had called out, his voice had been quiet back then.

"Are you helping Robb?" I had asked. Jon had whipped around when he heard me and he had ducked behind Lord Rickard's grave with me. "Did you leave a trail?" I asked. Jon's face had gone red and Robb had entered the crypts a little after that.

Jon and I had waited for Robb to pass by Lord Rickard's grave before we both ducked out from behind the statue and ran out into the cold, laughing as Robb turned right back around and chased after us into the snow.

"Children!" Ned Stark had called out, catching us at the right time. Robb tackled Jon to the ground and both boys ended up landing face first into the powdery snow. Already more snow was starting to fall. I looked from the two boys to the lord of Winterfell. Ned waved a gloved hand towards the double doors going into the great hall. "Come in here, you three. Gage is bound to have some hot stew to warm you up."

At the prospect of hot stew, I started bounding towards Ned Stark. Robb and Jon had to straighten themselves back up before running after me. Ned looked out beyond us. "D'you know where Theon's hiding?" Ned asked me as I passed.

"I saw him climbing the weirwood in the godswood," Jon said.

Ned nodded at that. "I'll go out there and fetch 'im. You all go in there and help yourselves to some stew." He patted Jon's head, thumped my shoulder lightly, Jon and I went into the great hall to find the stew Ned had promised. Robb went with his father to go find Theon and invite him along for Gage's stew.

I smiled now at the memory of Theon, Robb and Ned Stark joining us a few minutes later in the great hall. Theon had been slightly sullen about Robb not finding him, but he had cheered up considerably when Gage brought him a rather large bowl of stew, fresh from the pot with hunks of greasy chicken and vegetables.

The prospect of fighting a war during the winter was immensely unappealing.

* * *

Ravens were trying to fly out of the Twins' windows. Theon and I had the job of shooting them down every time one of those black birds came out. Another bird came out of the window.

"Your turn, Lady Snow." Theon said lazily. He was starting to get tired of shooting down birds. I loaded another arrow and took aim at the raven. The bird flew for a brief second before I loosed the arrow, letting it fly with a _twang._ The arrow caught the raven mid-wing flap and it thudded to the ground. Theon and I glanced at each other.

"D'you want to get it or shall I?" I asked. Theon rolled his eyes at me and trudged away to get the letter from the raven's body. I waited impatiently for him to come back. He eventually came back, reading the letter.

"Old lord Frey is wishing his granddaughter, Walda, a happy name day." Theon told me. I glanced over my shoulder to where the northern army had gathered. Robb stood at the head of it, surrounded by the other northern lords. Catelyn stood with her son, and I could tell from here that they were all trying to advise Robb on what to do next. We needed the Twins to cross and meet the Lannister armies. We couldn't do that without Lord Walder Frey's permission through his castle.

There was a slight shift in the scenery. I blinked at the sudden appearance of two Frey men, carrying their banners and riding horseback. Theon and I looked at each other once before rushing up the hill to Robb. As we approached Robb, he nodded to both of us, telling me that he had seen the men too.

"You can't go in there, my lord," Greatjon Umber said, his naturally loud voice booming.

"He's right," Roose Bolton agreed, his cold voice was sort of quiet, but everyone hushed to listen to him. "If you go in there alone, Lord Frey can keep you hostage, he could kill you."

"Then what d'you propose we do?" Robb asked his lords, looking around at all of them. I glanced briefly to the Frey men getting closer. "We need to cross the Green Fork to get any farther south. Surely Lord Frey can look out his window and see that we have twenty thousand north men waiting to cross his river."

Catelyn let out a quick huff of amusement. "The late lord Frey, my father used to call him. The man won't pick a side until he knows exactly who will be winning."

"Someone has to go negotiate with him." Lord Halys Hornwood said, looking to the Frey men. I followed the lord's gaze and saw that the two men had stopped riding, and now they were dismounting and beginning to walk forward.

"Let me go," Catelyn suddenly piped up. Several lords started to disagree with her, but the lady of Winterfell cut across them all. "I have known Lord Walder since I was a girl. He would never harm me."

Robb stared at his mother for a long moment, looking both frustrated and confused. His blue eyes flicked over to me. "Laena, would you mind?" He asked.

I opened my mouth to say that I wouldn't mind going with Catelyn to meet Lord Frey, but Catelyn's own blue eyes went wide and she shook her head at me. "Robb, trust me when I say this: Lord Frey won't mind me going in to negotiate, but he'll see it as a slight if...Helaena of all people went in with me."

Roose Bolton snorted loudly at that. "You'd think with all of the bastards living under his roof he wouldn't care for another one walking inside."

Robb heaved a sigh, but ended up nodding at his mother. Catelyn nodded back to her son and turned to me, speaking volumes without actually saying anything. I nodded to her, and she walked past me to go meet the two Frey men. There was a moment where all of the lords of the north watched Catelyn speak briefly to the Frey men, and then we all watched her get her horse and the men guided her back towards the castle on the river.

There was a sudden presence by my side and I glanced over to see Robb standing right beside me, staring after his mother and looking worried for her. I gave him a half smile and nudged his arm with my elbow.

"She'll be fine in there, Robb," I said. Robb didn't meet my eyes but he smiled anyway.

"We don't know how long she'll be in there negotiating," Robb said, raising his voice so that the other lords could hear him. "Set up camp here. We could end up spending the night here." The lords nodded along with Robb and began to scatter so that they could tell their men to set up camp. Robb finally looked down to me. "I'd take this opportunity to practice sword fighting, Laena." Robb said. "You're going to need it if my mother can't negotiate with Walder Frey."

I gave Robb one nod and left his side to go find Dacey Mormont again.


	16. 16: The Whispering Wood

Catelyn returned to camp around sunset. I was sitting in the tent with Robb, Theon, the Greatjon, Roose Bolton, Maege and Dacey Mormont, and the other lords of the north. She entered the tent, looking slightly tired. Robb stood up the second he saw his mother. The rest of the lords and I all stood up as well, eager and anxious to hear what terms she had agreed with Lord Walder on.

"He will let us pass," Catelyn said. There was a major change in the air as everyone let out a collective sigh. "He's also sending a thousand knights and three thousand foot soldiers to come along with us."

"But?" Robb asked.

"You will take his son Olyvar, as your personal squire." Catelyn said. "Lord Walder expects a knighthood eventually." She paused and she let a slight smile. Robb noticed too and prodded his mother for information. "Well, Arya will marry his youngest son, Elmar, when they both come of age."

"She won't like that," Robb said, matching his mother's half smile. I thought briefly about Arya finding out that she'd have to marry someone she didn't know. My smile and amusement was gone though, when I saw that Catelyn's own amusement had died.

"Was there anything else?" Robb asked, seeing her smile fade.

Catelyn hesitated before sighing. "When the war is done, you will marry one of Lord Walder's daughters. He said you can pick whichever one; he said he has a number who he believes would be suitable."

I looked to Robb, though I noticed Theon glance at me and then to Robb. My friend had stiffened considerably as he pondered this. The lords of the north watched Robb's reaction and waited for him to say something.

"Is there any way I can refuse?" Robb asked.

"Not if you want to cross," Catelyn replied.

"Then I accept these terms," Robb fired back. He turned back to the northern lords. "We will continue on with the Frey knights and soldiers at first light. Everyone get some rest, we will be meeting the Lannisters in battle within two days at the most."

The northern lords acknowledged this and left the tent, leaving Robb, Catelyn, Theon, and myself. Robb turned to his mother right when they were all gone. "Were any of them...you know."

I rolled my eyes at Robb as Theon chuckled. Catelyn paid us no mind when she replied, "There was one who was quite...decent looking."

Theon let out a loud laugh at this. Robb turned to glare over his shoulder at him. I elbowed Theon in the gut in response, but I found myself snickering too. "Do you two mind?" Robb asked us, jerking his head towards the exit. I shrugged at him and took the lead from the tent, Theon right behind me with a snicker on his face.

"One was decent looking," Theon repeated the phrase once we were outside into the fresh air. "Walder Frey looks like a rat; my bet is that any child of his will look like one as well."

"Robb's a good looking fellow," I said, rolling my eyes skyward. "I'm sure any looks that his wife brings to the table, Robb's looks will cancel them out." Theon snorted loudly at that and chuckled darkly along with me.

For all the jesting that Theon and I shared about Robb's predicament, we had all known that this day would end up coming for Robb. He was the first born of a high lord; he'd been raised all of his life knowing that he'd have to marry a girl for political reasons. Bran and Rickon had more hope for marrying for affection than Robb did.

Theon would eventually go home one day, maybe not soon, but he was the heir to the Iron Islands. He'd have to wed for politics one day, something that he'd do but it wouldn't stop him from laying with any other woman he wanted.

I had more freedom than either of them, I thought. I wasn't a lady of any sort of house, I didn't have any titles or lands to give away along with my hand. I could find a foot soldier or a sellsword or any lowborn man willing to fall for a bastard.

My mind drifted to Violet, who I hadn't seen in over two months, living up in Winter Town. I frowned to myself and gave myself a mental shake. No matter what, Violet was a woman who also happened to be a whore. I had never heard of two women running off into the sunset together like how the knights and ladies of stories and songs did. And even if I did want to go chase that sunset with Violet, would she even want to come with me?

* * *

There came a point this far down the Neck that we were finally at a crossroads. Robb could choose to lead his men towards Tywin Lannister, or Jaime Lannister. If he put focus on one, then the other could sneak up behind him and surround us, crushing the northern army without much trouble. After a night of going through it with his bannermen, Robb ended up splitting the army in two.

Two thousand men went to face off against Tywin Lannister, extremely outnumbered. The other twenty thousand men went with Robb to battle the Kingslayer.

Right before dawn, the camp was dead with the lack of activity. Last night, everywhere I looked I saw knights and foot soldiers donning their armor and sharpening their swords, battle axes, dirks, anything that had a blade on it. I had a new sword hanging from my belt, an unfamiliar weight. Despite Dacey Mormont and I working every day on sparring, I was progressing too slowly to survive the heat of battle. I was much better with a bow or with my knives.

Robb had found me long before the sky had begun to lighten. My heart had already been beating in my chest from adrenaline, but it started going even faster at the sight of Robb wearing his armor. He looked to be five years older and the idea of him dying came to mind.

"Laena," Robb said briskly, looking around at the people getting ready to fight around us. "You need to protect my mother. You're not good enough with a sword to fight in the thick of things, and I know you'll protect her-"

"No need to say any more, Robb," I said with a nervous smile. "I'll take care of the Lady Stark until this is all over."

Robb smiled back at me for that. "I cannot thank you enough, Laena."

"Come back in one piece and we'll be even."

"It's a deal then," Robb said with a nod. "I must be off. My mother's in the commanding tent." Before either of us could say another word, I started heading towards the commanding tent to go find Catelyn. I felt Robb's gaze follow me for only a moment before he turned away to find his horse.

Catelyn was in the commanding tent, wearing her fur cloak and staring down at the map of the Whispering Wood. She looked up when I entered and then turned back to the map. "They need to be gone already," Catelyn said to me. "The Kingslayer could attack the camp this instant if he wanted."

"According to the scouts, they don't know we're here yet." I tried to reason with her. "We still have the element of surprise."

"Barely; the sun will be up soon!"

Catelyn and I had attended the same war meetings. If I couldn't assure her right now, I wasn't going to able to at all. From outside the tent, we heard the thundering of hooves and feet. It seemed that the army was finally on the move.

"My son is going to war," Catelyn whispered to herself. I looked to her to see that she had closed her eyes and her lips were moving silently. She was praying. I glanced away to give her the privacy of praying; it wasn't my place to intrude on the Lady Stark's private prayers.

And now the sun was peeking over the horizon, the sky was gray and a thin mist was hanging in the air. Lady Catelyn and I sat atop our horses, and several hedge knights were flanking us. We could hear the sounds of the fight dying down, but the trees blocked our view from the actual fight. Catelyn's face was pale and she was shaking slightly.

Robb or the Kingslayer could be winning right now and we had no way of knowing for sure.

All of a sudden, horses burst through the underbrush and they ran across the field towards us. Catelyn's breath caught in her throat as she looked for Robb, and she visibly sighed with relief when she saw him riding out front. I smiled slightly at the sight of my friend; he was covered in mud but he was alive and looked unharmed.

The high mood was brought even higher when Robb revealed the Kingslayer in chains. I glared down at the man with filthy golden hair; he had killed Jory and others in King's Landing, he had hurt Lord Eddard. Robb had the Kingslayer dragged away, and it was a funny sight to see the tall man being dragged between two Umber soldiers.

Robb looked troubled, his face frowning at the reminder that two thousand men had died fighting against Tywin. I felt a stab of pity for my friend, knowing that he had commanded those men to their deaths.

"They will be sung about for generations to come." Theon said, trying and failing to make Robb feel better about it.

"Aye," Robb said darkly. "But the dead won't hear them." He paused and looked out towards where his men were bringing our injured and dead closer to camp for treatment. "This war is far from over."


	17. 17: The King in the North

Reports had come in that Riverrun was in the middle of a siege. Robb started to lead the Northern army towards it, thinking that we'd be able to break the siege and recruit Edmure Tully's forces into our own. The Northern lords themselves agreed with Robb, knowing that this alliance with Riverrun and the Twins would outnumber the Lannister army as it currently was. If things continued to go like this, the war would be over sooner than expected.

It was around dawn when the word spread.

I was with Dacey as we sparred with blunted swords. My arms were aching and shaking slightly, but I was finally managing to properly withstand a fight against her. Smalljon said that he'd spar with me one of these days, "I just don't want to hurt you too much." He had said with a smug look on his face. Theon had started joining sparring, and Robb would stop by whenever he could, but not this morning.

A squire ran to the Smalljon, who was watching Dacey and I circle each other. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the squire say something to the Smalljon before he slowly started to approach myself and Dacey. The Smalljon remained where he remained rooted to the spot, looking stricken.

"My ladies?" The squire said, his voice shaking slightly. Dacey cracked the flat of the blade against my shoulder one last time before she turned to the squire, one eyebrow raised. The squire looked from Dacey to me, sadness etched onto his face. I froze when I saw his face and stepped forward so that Dacey and I were shoulder to shoulder.

I didn't hear everything the squire said. My ears seemed to go into shock when he said that Eddard Stark was...had been...

Memories swam before my eyes. Lord Eddard watching me practice with a bow and arrow for the first time, giving me advice every few failed arrows. Lord Eddard coming into the Great Hall with snowflakes melting his hair as Robb, Jon, Theon, and I drank the hot stew. Lord Stark had been kind, he had been a distant sort of supportive, he wouldn't have betrayed Robert Baratheon, he was too loyal...

Everywhere I went in the camp that day, everyone was grieving. I walked until I found a large cask of wine and I started to do what my father had done best. Theon joined me a little while later and we sat away from everyone else to drink in peace.

"To Ned Stark," Theon said, raising his goblet slightly into the air, his voice thick. I echoed the toast, my throat closing just by saying the words. Tears stung at my eyes as I swallowed the wine, the alcohol burning my throat. There was the sound of footsteps behind me and I flinched slightly as Robb sat down heavily in the spot beside me.

"You want some, Robb?" I asked, finding my voice again. Robb blinked and hesitated before shaking his head.

"I don't think my father would want-" He cut off and fresh tears sprang out of his blue eyes. Robb lowered his head as he cried, and I moved closer and wrapped one arm around my friend, comforting him as much as I could. Theon got up and shuffled around until he was now sitting on Robb's other side. Theon put his hand on Robb's shoulder, gently patting him there.

"Your father was a good man," Theon said, the words sounding limp. Robb didn't acknowledge it and more tears fell from his eyes. Theon nodded to himself and gave Robb another thump on the back.

"The gods give him rest," I muttered, more to myself than to Robb or Theon. But Robb nodded at my words and remained silent.

"I'll finish this war, for him," Robb said, a new hint of darkness in his voice. "I need to get Arya and Sansa back. The Lannisters still have them in King's Landing and the gods only know what's happening to them there."

"We'll get them back," Theon told Robb firmly. "We'll get them back and take this war all the way to gold shitting Tywin Lannister."

That made Robb snort with a sort of dark mirth. I forced a smile at the sight of it, knowing that Robb probably wouldn't smile or fully laugh for a long time coming. But for now, we just sat side by side in mutual grief.

* * *

The siege of Riverrun was broken and the small Lannister army keeping outside of the castle were either killed or taken into custody. The Riverrun dungeons were almost overflowing with Lannister prisoners and the Kingslayer was put into a sort of solitary imprisonment with two guards standing outside of his door day and night.

Lord Hoster Tully was too ill to get out of bed and greet Robb and the other Northern lords, so Lord Edmure had to do it. The young lord was Lady Catelyn's younger brother and the acting lord of Riverrun while his father was ill. Lady Catelyn disappeared for a long period of time, going to her father's chamber and not coming back out until it was time for the feast that night.

I sat between Theon and Dacey, with Robb, the other Northern lords, Lady Catelyn, and Lord Edmure sat farther down the table as the Greatjon Umber loudly called for action.

"They executed your lord father on a false charge!" The Greatjon was saying. Riverrun's great hall was fairly quiet as everyone listened to the Greatjon speak. "And now these Southerners want us all to go down to King's Landing to swear fealty to this new boy king. You know what I say to that?" He paused long enough to spit on the stones beneath his feet.

The Northerners laughed and nodded in agreement. Robb was keeping his face as stoic as possible, a look that didn't fit him at all. The Greatjon continued. "What does that Southern boy know of the North, of the Wall? He doesn't know or care about me or my people, or any of you." The Greatjon stood up, and the eyes that hadn't already been watching him were suddenly on him. "There's only one king who I mean to bend my knee to. The King in the North!"

Goose flesh prickled my arms as the Greatjon drew his mighty sword and knelt in front of Robb, proclaiming my friend as the king of the North. Beside me, Theon blinked for a moment before rushing to his feet and kneeling beside the Greatjon.

"I swear to you," Theon said solemnly. "That my sword is yours. From this day, until my last day."

Robb stood up as Roose Bolton and the Mormonts and the Forresters and the other Northern lords and houses knelt before Robb and swore allegiance to him. Robb stood in front of them, turning to give Catelyn a brief look before facing the Northerners and Freys and Tullys. I got up from my seat and knelt before him as well, drawing the new sword at my hip and laying in front of me, officially giving my sword and loyalty to Robb Stark, the King in the North.


	18. 18: The Gray Dawn

"May I come in?" Theon's voice came from outside my tent's door. I paused packing my bag and gave the call that it was okay for him to enter. Theon entered the tent, gave it a look over once before finally looking to me with a nod.

"Not that it's not nice to see you here in my tent, Theon, but why are you here right now?" I asked. Theon paused and drew in a deep breath before actually saying anything.

"I'm going to the Iron Islands," Theon finally said. I stopped grabbing supplies for my trip south and stared at him. "I'm going to strike a deal with my father. He'll give us ships and men to sail those ships, and Robb will give the Iron Islands their independence."

I stared at Theon for a long moment. "Do you really think your father will agree to those terms? I've heard a lot about Balon Greyjoy and from what I've heard, I don't think he'd go for that kind of deal."

Theon snorted at me. "Well, don't ease it at all for me, Lady Snow. And no offense meant for you, but you don't know my father. He'll see this deal and make it, I'm sure of it."

"Well, if you're sure." I said with a shrug, still doubtful. "When d'you leave?"

"At dawn tomorrow."

"Lady Catelyn and I are going to Lord-I mean, _King_ Renly's camp tomorrow just before sunrise." I said. "Lady Catelyn wants to get there fast and for no Lannister scouts to know where we're going. I don't think we'll see each other before I leave."

Theon blinked at that. "So then, this would be goodbye."

"Goodbye for now," I corrected him. "This meeting with my uncle shouldn't take that long, and I'm sure you'll be back here with your father's terms before we know it." Even as I said the words, I felt a twinge of dread in my gut. Something told me that what I was saying wouldn't be true, but the words made Theon smile sadly.

"In that case," He said, moving forward until he was directly in front of me. He grabbed my face between his hands and brought my head forward to kiss my forehead. I felt a very slight smile cross my lips and Theon released me and stepped away, looking relieved with himself that he got to try that. Theon smiled a toothy smile at me. "I figured if I properly kissed you, I'd leave you wanting more."

I let out a snort of amusement. "Thank you so much for sparing me of that torture."

"Anything for you, Lady Snow." Theon said with a small nod. "Until we meet again."

"Until we meet again," I said as Theon turned and left the tent. I watched the spot where he had left for a long moment, feeling an unknown feeling of dread enter the room like a cold gust of wind. I quickly shook my head to try and get rid of these feelings. Theon and I would see each other again, I was sure of that.

I had no idea what to think of finally meeting one of my uncles. I had once heard Ned Stark talking about Stannis Baratheon, and the lord of Winterfell had spoken very little of the younger Baratheon brother, Renly. And now, according to the ravens sent from the South, both Stannis and Renly had claimed the Iron Throne for themselves, saying that Joffrey wasn't a true Baratheon.

That news had made me pause for a long moment.

If that rumor was true, then Joffrey and I shared no blood. The golden haired prince who had visited Winterfell a few months ago was a bastard born of incest between Queen Cersei and the Kingslayer. I had thought about the rumor for a few minutes before deciding that there had to have been some kind of truth to it. To make a claim this wild would guarantee Stannis's beheading, along with whoever helped spread the rumor.

Some of the Northern lords who heard the message about Joffrey and the other two being bastards were quick to find me. Roose Bolton had stared me down with his cold and gray eyes for a long while before he grunted. The Greatjon had also taken a long look at me and had proclaimed to anyone listening that my appearance was enough proof that none of the royal children were legitimate.

"Look at 'er!" The Greatjon had said in his naturally booming voice. "She's the image of Robert and none of those golden haired brats looks anything like their father!"

Even as he said those words, I thought back to my time at the Vale and Mya Stone. If she really was my half sister, we both looked more like Robert than any of the children he shared with Cersei Lannister.

Lady Catelyn had stiffened when I told her about it. "Even if it is true, Helaena, it is still incredibly dangerous for you. If I know the queen, she'll want to squash this rumor by getting rid of any proof of it actually being true."

"You mean she'd try and kill me?" I asked Lady Catelyn softly. The older woman closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and locking her blue gaze with mine.

"I won't lie to you, Helaena," She said. "You seem to smart to be comforted by something you know is untrue. But yes, Queen Cersei would jump at the opportunity to kill any of King Robert's illegitimate children."

"Thank you for being honest, my lady." I told her.

Lady Catelyn had given me a thin smile before nodding towards the entrance of her own tent. "Be on your way, Helaena. We have a long journey tomorrow. And when it's all over and done with, I will be asking Robb if he can release us, send us back home to Winterfell. I need to see Bran and Rickon again." I had bowed slightly and left the tent, immediately heading to my own to pack right before Theon had shown up.

This next morning, shortly before the sun would actually rise, I was woken up by one of the hedge knights who would be coming with me and Lady Catelyn to where Renly was. I quickly got dressed the moment the hedge knight was out of my tent and I snatched the pack I was bringing, along with my daggers and the sword I had been given.

Dacey Mormont had told me that she had taught me all she could given the circumstances. "After this is all done with, you should come to Bear Island. I can finish teaching you there. Right now I think my little sister, Lyanna, could beat your ass, Snow."

Maege Mormont had been listening and she had let out a boom of laughter upon hearing this. "Lyanna fights dirty; there's no way she'd let Snow here win." I had smiled broadly at the two Mormont ladies and had bid them farewell for now before leaving.

When it was finally time to go, Lady Catelyn and I both nudged our horses, drawing them into a fast trot. We managed to leave the camp, the light barely shining over the horizon, turning the sky a light gray.

I glanced over my shoulder to get a last look at the camp, only to see Theon and his small group of people getting ready to leave camp. Theon and I ended up matching gazes and from this distance, I could see him smile. I lifted a hand and waved slightly before turning away and speeding Dust up. Lady Catelyn and the two knights with us sped up until they were riding with me again.


	19. 19: The First of His Name

A few scouts from King Renly's army rode out to greet us as we approached. Once they saw it was Lady Catelyn coming to speak on King Robb's behalf, they greeted us with kindness and began to lead the way to the camp where Renly was.

Renly's forces were so much more than Robb's, I realized. So many houses from the Stormlands and the Reach had joined King Renly. I recognized some of the major house sigils, but I also realized that I didn't recognize so many of them. As we gave our horses to the horse master of the camp, I followed Lady Catelyn closely only to immediately try and back off a little.

I didn't need my uncle's first impression of me to be a child holding onto Lady Catelyn's skirts.

The entire trip down to this camp, I had told myself over and over that I didn't care about seeing the likes of Renly Baratheon. But now that we were close to him and a few moments away from meeting him in front of his followers, I was fighting to admit to myself that I was nervous to meet, let along see him.

I had heard that all three of the Baratheon brothers looked like each other, with black hair and blue eyes and broad shoulders. Was I about to meet someone who was an exact replica of my father?

The two men led us towards the direct center of the camp, where the camp had sort of formed into a circle. I frowned at the two people in the center, who were fighting with blunted swords. I took in the two warriors; they were both pretty tall, but the one in the bronze armor was at least a head taller than the knight in the shining armor. I watched in silence as the taller knight swung their blunted great sword over their head and the edge of the sword cracked hard on the smaller knight's collarbone, the shock of the blow forcing the knight to his knees. The taller knight raised their sword, as if to drive the point into the soft bit of armor protecting the smaller knight's neck.

" _Yield_!" The smaller knight screamed, rolling away from the tall knight. "I yield!" He stood up and removed his helmet, a tumble of bronze hair spilling down to his shoulders. I blinked at the young man, deciding that he was probably one of the most handsome men I had ever seen. The masked knight sheathed their blunted sword before turning and kneeling.

And then I saw him.

King Renly Baratheon looked like my father, but it a subtle way. Robert had been broad and muscular and wide in every sense of the word. Renly looked built too, but he was much leaner than Robert had been. A nice mop of black hair was on top of his head, and his black beard was growing in thickly. His eyes were still blue, but they were a lot more darker blue than Robert's or mine. A golden crown with tiny golden stag antlers rose from his mop of black hair, the two colors of House Baratheon side by side on top of his head.

Then I saw his queen right beside him.

So this had to be the newly queened Margaery Tyrell, I decided. Her light brown hair looked soft and nice and it tumbled past her shoulders and to her chest. A small and golden tiara rested atop that head of light brown hair. Even from this distance, I could see her large sky blue eyes. Her dress was both pale green and pale blue, and the slit in her dress went deep, revealing the sides of her breasts. I blinked and had to shake myself to avoid from staring too hard.

The royal couple applauded the winner of the melee as the still masked knight removed their helm. From where I was standing, all I could see was a head full of short, straw blond hair. But something must've been off about them, because there was a slight gasp and an uncomfortable shift in the crowd.

"Who let the beauty join the melee?" Someone behind me hissed. I blinked as the knight stood up, standing tall and straight as if they couldn't hear the crowd.

"I am Brienne of Tarth." The knight announced, and I realized why the crowd had shifted. Brienne was a woman who just won a melee against these men. "I would ask you for a place in your Kingsguard. I will guard your side and protect you from all harm."

"Then it is yours!" King Renly said. "Congratulations, Brienne of the Kingsguard!"

The knight who had led Lady Catelyn and I to the melee grounds moved forward and knelt before King Renly and Queen Margaery. "Your Grace, I have brought you Lady Catelyn Stark of Winterfell. She has come to speak on behalf of her son, Lord Robb Stark."

" _King_ Robb," Catelyn corrected the knight, walking forward. I waited until she was ahead of me a few paces before I went after her. I immediately felt the eyes of the queen land on me for a brief moment and I felt myself almost trip over. Lady Catelyn continued. "My son is Robb Stark, the King of the North."

Renly smiled thinly at that. "Apologies on behalf of Ser Griffin. And my sincere condolences for your lord husband, Lady Catelyn. I shall gladly avenge his death when I take King's Landing! I will personally bring you Joffrey's head."

As the crowd cheered at their king's words, Lady Catelyn shot me a quick glance, one of her eyebrows raised slightly. I shook my head once and shrugged with one shoulder. These men down reminded me nothing of the knights and soldiers up in the Northern army. My slight interaction with Lady Catelyn was enough to get King Renly's attention.

Renly stared at me for a long moment before he tilted his head to the side. "Snow, right? Robert's Northern bastard?"

If I didn't reply or if I tried to tell him my first name, it could've been seen as rude. So I just nodded my head deeply. "Yes, your Grace."

Renly removed his crown and handed it to the side for a steward to take. I watched as he said a brief word to his wife and made his way down the wooden platform they had been sitting on. King Renly walked straight up to Lady Catelyn.

"Would you walk with me, my lady?" He asked her. "We can discuss your son and my brother on the way to my tent." Lady Catelyn bowed her head in agreement and they started walking together. I waited until they had walked far enough away from going after them, feeling the queen's bright blue gaze on my back and making me feel like tripping.

The woman knight named Brienne joined me at my side a moment later and I found myself dwarfed by her size. The top of my head only reached the top of her chest, and she was twice as broad and muscular as well. We moved in silence and as we passed the men of the camp, I couldn't help but notice how several of them snickered as she passed.

"How did you come into Lady Catelyn's service?" Brienne suddenly asked, her voice sounding deeper than the average woman's. I quickly recovered though.

"I'm in King Robb's service." I told her. "And King Robb trusts me to protect his mother while we're away from the army."

"Your title?"

"A bastard from Winterfell. There's no official title for me."

Brienne sort of smiled at that; half of her mouth lifted while the other half stayed lowered. "And what is your name again? I don't believe I asked before."

"Helaena Snow."

"Then you could call yourself Helaena of Winterfell." Brienne offered. I smiled slightly and shook my head, knowing that I probably wouldn't start calling myself that. No matter what I called myself, I'd still be a bastard of Winterfell. To use the name Brienne advised would be to drop the bastard name all together.

King Renly led the way into a tent, bringing Lady Catelyn in with him. I held open the tent flap for Brienne and I followed behind her. Before I went in, I saw the queen strolling down the path surrounded by three ladies in waiting. I hurried into the tent to avoid having her making me nervous again.

Brienne began assisting King Renly remove the gold and green armor he was wearing, and he was still speaking to Lady Catelyn. "If we ally our armies together, the Northern army and my own could crush the Lannisters their allies. But first, my brother Stannis is causing a problem. My scouts have reported that Stannis's small fleet is heading right towards our camp as we speak. The moment to strike is now."

"You should ally yourself with your brother." Lady Catelyn said automatically.

Renly raised a thick eyebrow at her. "If I ally myself with Stannis, he'll claim the Iron Throne. My brother would not make a very good ruler, Lady Stark, I can assure you of that."

"He is still your older brother." Lady Catelyn pointed out. She opened her mouth to say more but Renly cut across her.

"Why don't you go outside and ask my steward to take you to your tent?" Renly blatantly dismissed her. "We will discuss this matter more during supper. You, of course, will dine with myself and Queen Margaery. Now would you mind it if I had a word with my niece in private?"

I stiffened as Lady Catelyn glanced at me with concern for a moment before nodding once, not exactly able to refuse him. The lady of Winterfell left the tent, looking vaguely annoyed at the notion of being dismissed. Renly watched her go before turning to Brienne.

"You may leave as well, Brienne." Renly told her. "You can take a post outside if you want to remain close to protect me." Brienne blinked but did as he wanted anyway, leaving me alone with the man who claimed to be king of Westeros.

Renly was looking at me for the first time, probably seeing his older brother in me. "You have your father's look to you." Renly said. "But you're much better looking than Robert. I expect that's your mother's side coming out. Who was your mother anyway?"

"She was a whore when Robert had her." I said. "But she's married a pig farmer now. They live on a small farm a few miles out from Winterfell."

"A happy ending I'm sure," Renly replied. "And what about you, Helaena Snow? What do you consider your happy ending?"

I was stumped. I stared at my uncle for a long moment, realizing then that I had never thought about my own happy ending before. I blinked. "I've never given it much thought, Your Grace."

Renly gave me a sympathetic smile. "What about becoming legitimized? Have you ever considered that?"

"No, Your Grace." I said. "King Robert never offered to have me legitimized, and Joffrey is surely never going to either."

"I'll do it." He said with an air of confidence. "Once the war is over, I will proclaim you a true Baratheon, and you'll be my heir until a son is born."

"Your Grace?" I said, barely understanding what Renly was offering. I blinked and instinctively looked up, but the tent roof was blocking the sky from my view. I dropped to my knee and bowed my head, not comprehending the magnitude of what Renly was saying.

I'd be a Baratheon. I could live at the stronghold of Storm's End, or King's Landing. Instead of Helaena Snow, I'd become Lady Helaena Baratheon...

"Rise, my niece." Renly said kindly. He held out his hand for me, and I took it. Renly helped me to my feet. "I take it as this news was well received?"

"Yes, your Grace." I said with a quick nod of my head. "Thank you, your Grace."

Renly chuckled lightly. "You are welcome, Helaena. The moment this war is over, you'll have our family name and a title as the lady of Storm's End. That, I promise you. Now; I'll have a steward show you to a vacant tent. I'll imagine you'll want to freshen up before supper tonight."

That made me stall for a moment. "Pardon me, your Grace, but did you just say I'll be joining you and Lady Catelyn for supper tonight?"

Renly nodded, still smiling in a friendly and confident way. "Yes, I did. You don't have the name yet, but Robert's blood runs in your veins. That makes you family for me."

"Thank you for that," I told him quietly, honestly meaning it. King Renly seemed completely genuine. I actually believed him when he said that he'd legitimize me the moment this war was over.

I added this offer of legitimization to the list of reasons I wanted this damned war to end.


	20. 20: The Supper

I felt ridiculous. On edge and eager to get the supper over with, but ridiculous nonetheless. I hadn't brought any fancy gowns with me on the trip to King Renly's camp, I doubted I even owned any gowns that were nice enough to wear in front of a king and his queen. I doubted my riding leathers would do either.

So here I was, wearing the nicest outfit I had thought to bring with me; a dark blue dress with simple black stitching around the hem and long sleeves. It was a dress meant for the North, with its long sleeves and thick wool, but it'd have to do. I took my time braiding my hair, making sure a single hair wasn't out of place. Lady Catelyn wouldn't forgive me if I didn't at least try to look my best for this supper with King Renly and Queen Margaery.

Queen Margaery. She'd be at this supper. I swallowed hard and willed myself not to get nervous around this queen.

I walked as nicely as I could to Lady Catelyn's nearby tent, carefully holding the front of my dress up so that it didn't get too muddy before dinner. Lady Catelyn was ready and she looked to be in a similar state of neatness, wearing a simple and wool dress with her hair done in two braids that started above her forehead and went down either side of her head and met and connected at the nape of her neck. All in all, she somehow looked more dignified and put together than I did.

But Catelyn, being the lady she had been born to be, smiled kindly at me and nodded her head. "You look nice tonight, Helaena."

"Thank you, my lady," I replied. "You look nice as well." Lady Catelyn nodded once with my returned compliment and began to lead the way to one of the king's tents, where we'd be eating tonight. I felt another stab of nervousness, remembering the offer King Renly had made for me.

I'd become a Baratheon. I would no longer be a Snow, but I'd get to be lady of Storm's End. I hoped the people of Storm's End liked the idea of a lady who enjoyed hunting and staying outdoors. I'd have to get used to the storms that were down there. It'd be a big change to get used to.

I'd have to say goodbye to Robb and Theon. Robb was King in the North though, I reminded myself. If he wanted to visit his friend down at Storm's End, he could do just that and bring his Frey wife with him. As for Theon...Theon just might stay on the Iron Islands. After all, he was supposed to inherit them. Maybe he'd be able to visit too. I smiled at the thought of having my two close friends visiting me in a castle I could call my own. The only missing piece was Jon. Maybe Jon could become a high ranking member of the Night's Watch, able to come down South and visit for a few days before going back.

For a moment I could picture it. Robb with his Frey wife, and all the children they'd end up having. Theon most likely wouldn't settle down for a long time, and when he did he'd probably come to Storm's End alone, not wanting to share his time with his friends with his wife and possible children. Jon wouldn't have to worry about any of that, but he'd probably enjoy teaching Robb's children how to fight with a blunted edge sword or how to shoot a bow.

The fantasy in my mind was so nice I almost didn't realize that we had entered the dining tent.

The tent held the overwhelming aroma of roasted pork, mingling with apples and pears and spiced wine. I saw that the table had already been set, with one plate overflowing with mashed sweet potatoes that glistened with honey and cinnamon. Fresh bread sat on the table as well, filling the tent with the warm scent of fluffy bread.

"Lady Stark!" Queen Margaery's voice sounded from the entrance of the tent, and I felt my heart leap into my throat. The queen was wearing a green and gold dress that flowed like water from her waist to the floor. The bodice was tight and a golden rose was stitched right over the queen's heart. Her soft brown hair was slightly curled and pinned off her face, revealing her big blue eyes. When the queen turned her light gaze to me, I swallowed. "And Helaena Snow! It's lovely to see both of you this evening."

"It's nice to see you as well, your Grace." Lady Catelyn replied, actually able to reply. "You look lovely this evening."

"As do you," Queen Margaery said with a smile. She looked to me and smiled. "You do as well, Helaena."

I blinked and nodded jerkily. "T-Thank you, your Grace."

I caught a glimpse of Lady Catelyn out of the corner of my eye, the lady of Winterfell giving me a questioning look. She was probably wondering why in the Seven Kingdoms I was suddenly acting so nervous. I didn't have time to dwell on it anyway, as King Renly entered the tent after his wife and we all halted our conversation to give him the proper respects.

King Renly greeted us all and looked to the table overflowing with food. "Ladies, let us enjoy this feast!"

The king took the head of the table and Lady Catelyn took the opposite end, sitting directly across from King Renly. I swallowed hard when I sat down in front of Queen Margaery. The queen smiled kindly at me and I returned it, but I had the feeling that my smile came across as forced looking.

A sudden thought of Violet came to mind, with her long brown hair and green eyes. I hadn't seen her in so long...I missed her.

That's who the queen reminded me of, I decided. The idea of Queen Margaery reminding me of Violet settled my mind. The moment I got back North to her, I'd spend days with her, to make up for this absence. I wondered what the chances were of Violet coming to Storm's End with me.

"From what I hear, Lady Catelyn," King Renly said, swallowing his first mouthful of food. He ate rather politely, given who his older brother was. "Your son is dominating every battle field he comes across. I heard some of my younger squires saying that he rides that wolf of his into battle."

I snorted in amusement at the thought of Robb riding Grey Wind into a fight. Lady Catelyn gave me a warning glance but turned her blue eyes back to King Renly. "King Robb, my son, has indeed shown a knack for battle strategy. He is like his father in that way."

King Renly smiled sadly and nodded. "In my last conversation with Lord Eddard, I told him to come with me and align with me, support my claim to the Iron Throne. He refused and stayed behind, decided to stay honorable." King Renly paused and sighed. "If he hadn't talked to Cersei, if he had listened to me, who knows what could've been."

I risked a glance at Lady Catelyn whose eyes had glazed over, as if she was imagining being anywhere else other than here and having this conversation. Queen Margaery picked up on Lady Catelyn's discomfort and she turned to her husband. "My sweet, why don't we discuss something other than war fare? I'm sure Lady Stark is tired of all this talk."

King Renly smiled brightly at Margaery and nodded again. "Of course, my dear."

I caught Lady Catelyn looking grateful for the young queen and I tried a small attempt to hide my own smile. If there was one conversation I didn't feel like having, it was one about Lord Eddard Stark.

The queen began to talk about her older brother Willas Tyrell and I began to eat some of the food displayed to me. The sweet flavor of the chicken smothered in some kind of apple sauce dazzled my tongue, filling my belly with warmth. For a long while, a sort of small talk was made around the table, nobody wanting to bring up the politics of Lady Catelyn and I being here just yet.

"And what of you, Helaena Snow?" Queen Margaery asked me, finally piercing me with her bright blue gaze. "What do you enjoy doing?"

I swallowed the drink in my mouth, hoping the added moisture in my mouth would help me be able to speak. "Well, I've never been one for stitch work or singings songs, your Grace. I rather enjoyed going hunting with King Robb and the others."

King Renly smiled wistfully at the sound of that. "Spoken like a true daughter of Robert Baratheon. You not only look like him, you have some of his hobbies it seems."

If he only knew the other half of it, I thought to myself. My mind thought of how much the former king and I both liked hunting and drinking and visiting brothels. But my father had been wild in his habits, I at least _tried_ to have some control over it. Lady Catelyn must've been thinking the same thing as I because she gave a pointed glance my way but said nothing.

As the evening's meal began to wind down and a nice feeling of quietness began to fill the tent, there was a sudden burst from the tent's entrance as a steward ran n, closely followed by Ser Loras Tyrell. "I'm so sorry, your Grace." Ser Loras was saying, grabbing a hold of the steward by the upper arm, holding him tight. "I tried to stop him from ruining your evening."

"It's far from ruined." King Renly said patiently. "Now release him and let him speak freely." Ser Loras hesitated but did as he kind commanded.

"Pardons for intruding, your Grace." The steward apologized, bowing his head slightly.

Renly smiled at the young man despite the interruption. "It's not a problem at all, young man. Tell me what's the trouble."

The steward's nervous energy almost exploded around all of us. "It's your brother, your Grace. Lord Stannis's ships have been sighted just off the coast."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! sorry for not updating in a long time, life's been extremely busy. But now I'm out of California and living in England of all places! I'm still working on getting settled but once I am I'll be able to update more chapters.**

 **Thank you all for your patience :)**

 **-Katie**


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